Lithium Chile Responds To Government of Canada Order, Completes Second Production Well
Lithium Chile (TSX: LITH) has completed a second production well at its Salar de Arizaro property, which is based in Argentina. The completion follows the first well which was drilled back in September of last year. Separately, the firm also addressed recent orders made by the Government of Canada.
Yesterday, the Government of Canada announced actions to protect minerals currently listed under its critical minerals list. In particular, it was concerned with investments made by foreign entities into that of Canadian explorers and miners of critical minerals, with an emphasis on lithium.
“In accordance with the ICA, foreign investments are subject to review for national security concerns, and certain types of investment—such as those in the critical minerals sectors—receive enhanced scrutiny. Therefore, we reviewed a number of investments in Canadian companies engaged in the critical minerals sector, including lithium,” the Canadian Government said within the release.
Among those actions, is the forced divesture by certain Chinese entities of their interest in lithium explorers, with Lithium Chile and their investment from Chengze Lithium International Limited being one such target. The order demands that Chengze divest its 19.35% interest in the company. Lithium Chile addressed the order briefly this morning, indicating that at this time Chengze is reviewing the order and the legal options it has in relation to the demand.
In terms of recent drilling conducted by Lithium Chile, it’s second well, referred to as Argento 2, was drilled to a total depth of 649 metres, intersecting the brine aquifer for a total length of 255 metres. The intersect compares to the first well, which saw an intersect of 132 metres and resulted in a resource estimate of 1.42 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent.
Drilling of the second well occurred 3.6 kilometres to the southeast of the first well, a distance which the company reports should result in an “as good or better” resource estimate when compared to Argento 1. Previous samples taken within 450 metres of the second well have returned assays as high as 350 mg/l lithium.
“The completion of the second production well is a major milestone in Lithium Chiles development. Firstly, moving out 3.6 kilometers and hitting the brine bearing formation just 23 meters deeper in the basin then the first production well is extremely encouraging. Secondly, almost doubling the thickness of the lithium brine aquifer from 132 meters to 255 meters should significantly increase the resource potential on the Salar de Arizaro,” said CEO Steve Cochrane on the announcement.
Another drill rig meanwhile has been contracted for exploration on the property, with four to five new exploratory wells to now be drilled to test other regions of the property.
Lithium Chile last traded at $0.70 on the TSX Venture.
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