Canadian resources firm MGX Minerals has entered into an option to acquire an 80% interest in the Salinitas lithium brine mining tenements in the lithium triangle of Argentina.
The 4 308-ha contiguous land package resides in the Puna region of north-west Argentina near the border of Chile, an area renowned for its lithium- and potassium-rich brine resources.
MGX has agreed to pay $250 000 to TSX-V-listed AIS Resources to secure the option. The company can acquire an undivided 80% in the project at any time during the agreement by making payments totalling C$3.2-million. MGX has also agreed to incur total expenditures of at least $1.2-million prior to May 31, 2020.
MGX explains that the surface elevation of the Salinas Grandes salar is about 3 400 m above the sea level. The salar forms a composite closed basin with internal drainage, where discharge occurs by evaporation. Water inflow into the salar is produced by precipitation, and superficial groundwater incursions.
MGX plans to conduct a transient electromagnetic method geophysical study along with trenching, which will be followed by a drill programme along the edge of the salar, to test for shallow, near surface brines and determine locations with anomalous concentrations of lithium.
MGX has developed a rapid lithium extraction technology eliminating or reducing the physical footprint and investment in large, multi-phase, lake-sized, lined evaporation ponds, as well as enhancing the quality of extraction and recovery across a complex range of brines as compared with traditional solar evaporation. The technology is applicable to petrolithium (oil and gas wastewater), natural brine, and other brine sources such as lithium-rich mine and industrial plant wastewater.