Categories: Base Metals / Energy
Topics: General Base Metals / General Energy

Argentina Lithium & Energy (TSX-V: LIT)(OTC: PNXLF) CEO Niko Cacos on Significantly Expanding Lithium Portfolio on Pocitos Salar in Salta Province

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the President and CEO of Argentina Lithium & Energy, Mr. Niko Cacos. Niko, happy new year. How are you today?

Niko Cacos: Happy new year, Gerardo. I'm very well, thank you, and very excited to be beginning a new year with some great news like we've just announced yesterday for Argentina Lithium.

Gerardo Del Real: Let's talk about it. Last time you and I spoke pre-new year, we talked about the fact that you were still looking to add to what was already a pretty significant lithium portfolio. And so now, the news today, you've optioned some additional properties on the Pocitos Salar in Salta province in Argentina. Can you provide a bit of the context, because the holding is a pretty significant one in one of the largest Salars in the Argentina lithium triangle?

Niko Cacos: Absolutely. I mean, as I've said before, the Argentina portion of the lithium triangle is probably the most prospective area on the planet for making new lithium discoveries. As we know, lithium, as we're going to electrify this world and decarbonize it; lithium is the key mineral that is required and that's in short supply. So, we are probably in the world's most prospective region for finding lithium.

And then when we dive into that, Argentina Lithium has picked up a substantial property package in four different Salars, but the Salar of Pocitos is a very, very big one. The second largest one within that triangle, and we've increased our holdings there by 60% that we announced just yesterday. And the neat thing is that this Salar is just 30 kilometers away from the Salar of Rincon, which late last year, Rio Tinto paid close to a billion dollars to buy out Rincon Limited there.

Gerardo Del Real: The Pocitos Salar is one of the more under explored ones, right? It hasn't seen a ton of exploration. Can you speak to why that is, and the potential you believe the Salar possesses?

Niko Cacos: Well, we believe the Salar is very prospective. I think one of the reasons why this Salar is under explored is, it just speaks to the under exploration overall investment that Argentina has received to date. As we said, we're a group we're organization that's managed by the Grosso Group. The Grosso Group are pioneers in mining. We've been active in Argentina for 30 years. We recognize that the country has been tremendously under explored and under invested in mining, and has a lot of potential to make discoveries.

We've made four other discoveries throughout the country, and we believe that this region here has a potential to make a very, very significant discovery for lithium in the country of Argentina.

Gerardo Del Real: The company's holdings in this specific Salar now total over 26,000 hectares. How do you plan on exploring and prioritizing that exploration?

Niko Cacos: Well, the neat thing is that it's readily accessible. There's a highway that runs right through the property. So, we're gearing up to get some geophysics done on this Salar towards the end of the second quarter, or the first and second quarter, and then we plan to be drilling it. So, our priorities are first on Rincon, and then we're going to prioritize on Pocitos where we have now a very substantial holding.

Gerardo Del Real: Sounds like a busy 2022 in store. It sounds like we'll be chatting again soon. Anything else to add to that, Niko?

Niko Cacos: Nope, that's it. I think you hit the button right on the nose there that 2022 is going to be a very busy year for Argentina Lithium. Last year, we really focused on building up and bulking up our property portfolio. I think we've reached that critical mass now, and going forward, we've got exploration programs that are going to be unveiled just for later on this month. And it's going to be a very, very active year for our team, and very excited to see what we can find there.

Gerardo Del Real: Exciting times in the lithium space. Niko, thanks for your time. We'll chat again soon.

Niko Cacos: My pleasure.

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