Galan Lithium has kicked off pre-construction activities at its Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project in Argentina after being granted its development permits by the local Mines Department Minister.
The permit allows the company to start the commissioning of its new camp, begin removal of top-soil and enter preliminary testing activities for securing the ground quality. Once that work has been completed, Galan will begin construction of its evaporation ponds as part of the first phase of its production of a lithium chloride concentrate.
Just last month, Galan revealed an increased mineral resource of 6.6 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent at 880 milligrams per litre lithium at Hombre Muerto West. It also filled its coffers to the tune of $31.5 million from an institutional placement priced at $1.05 per share to help drive development at the Argentine project.
The company says the placement funds will be used to purchase long-lead items for its proposed lithium carbonate pilot plant and the stage-two definitive feasibility study (DFS) at the project. The lithium explorer is also considering its third and fourth phases that will ramp up production to as much as 60,000 tonnes per annum of lithium chloride concentrate equivalent (LCE).
Galan Lithium managing director Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega said: “Galan would firstly like to acknowledge and sincerely thank the Government of the Catamarca Province in Argentina for their continued support in walking with us to bring about this first major approval in the development of the initial production phase for the HMW Project. They have been both professional and committed through the whole approval process.”
The company’s initial DFS focuses on only the first production phase, where it expects to produce 4000 tonnes a year of LCE – a figure that is in line for production permits that are due to be approved later this month. A 4000-tonne per annum lithium carbonate pilot plant facility is currently under construction.
Meanwhile, ongoing DFS optimisation work will culminate in the release of a second phase that will address full production rates of 20,000 tonnes per annum LCE. But the company is also looking further ahead, undertaking more expansive studies on the back of its initial DFS and additional optimisation work to consider production phases three and four.
Management is evaluating the potential for phase-three production from Hombre Muerto West to begin in 2028, with a projected 40,000 tonnes of LCE to be produced annually.
Galan has two world-class operations in the South American region known as the “Lithium Triangle” – its Hombre Muerto West and Candelas projects on the Hombre Muerto salar, which hosts the highest grade and lowest impurity levels of all lithium brines in Argentina.
With permits now officially in place, the company will move forward with constructing its 250-person accommodation modules and expects the first phase of pond development to begin as soon as next quarter.
Mr Vargas de la Vega last year told The West Australian, “My conviction has always been bigger than my anxiety”. The latest local government approval will definitely allow for more of the former and less of the latter.
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By Michael Philipps
