TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Vancouver-based Lithium One has retained ARA Worley Parsons to complete an NI 43-101-compliant preliminary economic assessment (PEA) report for the company's Sal de Vida lithium/potash project in Argentina.

The study will model the economics of a conventional evaporation recovery circuit for lithium and potash at the brines project.

Both the PEA and related NI 43-101 report are scheduled for completion in the third quarter, the company said.

“Our results to date have been outstanding and we expect a robust economic model will be delivered by ARA,” CEO Paul Matysek commented.

“This work will put us in a position to move rapidly through the completion of the feasibility study in the first half of 2012 and we remain on track for our goal of delivering the first lithium and potash products from Sal de Vida in 2015, when strong growth in the lithium market is forecast."

The Sal de Vida project has an inferred resource of 5.4-million tons of lithium-carbonate equivalent and 21-million tons of potash equivalent.

A consortium made up of Korea Resource Corp, LG International and GS Caltex can earn 30% of the Sal de Vida project by funding the feasibility study and providing an off-take agreement for up to 50% of the lithium production.

Lithium One also has a project in Quebec, Canada.