Mineral resource exploration company Power Minerals (ASX:PNN) has confirmed key metrics including lithium grade, aquifer thickness, and brine density through definition drilling at the Salta Lithium Brine Project in Argentina.
The company says its initial diamond drillhole PM22-IN-01 was completed at the Incahuasi salar (salt lake) to a depth of 400m, intersecting ‘highly’ positive salar evaporite and semi-consolidated sedimentary lithologies to a depth of 339m before reaching basement rock.
This drillhole included a 280m interval containing brine with visual medium–to–high drainable porosity that the company says has the potential to host ‘significant’ quantities of lithium brine.
Following the completion of drilling, Power reports it sent single packer text brine samples to an Argentinian laboratory for analysis, and representative samples of drill core were sent to a specialist laboratory in the US to determine the actual drainable porosity.
Commenting on the results, Power Minerals Managing Director Mena Habib says: “These results confirm and validate the previously reported initial visual indications and confirm the presence of significant lithium in the brines in drillhole PM22-IN-01.
This is a highly encouraging outcome from the first drillhole in our ongoing resource definition drilling campaign at the Salta Project, and confirms the hole’s potential to deliver significant new results to the project’s existing JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE).”
“This is a highly encouraging outcome from the first drillhole in our ongoing resource definition drilling campaign at the Salta Project”
Power reports final assay results of packer brine samples from drilling at PM22-IN-01 have returned consistent lithium grades between 187 milligrams per litre (mg/L), and 202mg/L from 24 intersections between 28m to 304m.
Following the completion of drilling at Incahuasi, the company says drilling is planned to progress to the Rincon salar followed by the Pocitos salar. Power reports this drilling campaign aims to deliver a maiden mineral resource at Incahuasi and Pocitos, and to expand the existing mineral resource at Rincon.
In addition, the company hopes to upgrade the existing combined JORC mineral resource with this drilling to support future development plans at the project.
Power says it will be completing an interpretation of vertical electrical sounding (VES) geophysical surveys and previous brine sampling to support lithium brine resource drilling and an initial MRE for Pocitos. The company also reports it will complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for all 3 salares, which will be supported with data reviews, drilling and water management studies.
The Salta Project is located in the Salta Province of northwestern Argentina, and it consists of 5 salares that sit within 7 mining leases over a total project area of 147km-square.
Images: Power Minerals Ltd
