Pioneering Firm Targets Vast Lithium Resources in Argentina
by Mike Fagan
Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp. (TSX-V: LIT)(OTC: PNXLF) — currently trading around C$0.15 per share — has announced the closing of a non-brokered oversubscribed financing resulting in gross proceeds to the company of C$763,605.
The funds will be used, in part, toward the advancement of its two 100%-owned lithium exploration projects — Incahuasi and Antofalla — along with the potential acquisition of new lithium projects in South America’s prolific Lithium Triangle.
The Lithium Triangle, which includes parts of northwestern Argentina where the company’s two projects are located, produces about half of the world's lithium and hosts approximately 60% of the world’s known lithium reserves.
Geologically speaking, lithium production from this part of the world is derived from brines that lie underneath salt flats, which are commonly referred to as salars.
The Lithium Triangle has emerged as the preferred lithium mining region of the world because of its massive salars filled with lithium-rich brines.
The brines are pumped to the surface and transported to large evaporation ponds where the sun and wind work their evaporative magic.
Current Lithium Project Portfolio
Incahuasi Lithium Project: Argentina Lithium & Energy has acquired a 100%-interest in over 32,800 acres of the Incahuasi Salar and basin in Catamarca province, northwestern Argentina.
The company believes the Incahuasi Salar is underexplored, and, in particular, supports conditions for quality lithium brines at-depth.
Argentina Lithium launched its first exploration program at the Incahuasi project in 2017 and completed initial geophysical, surface sampling, and drilling programs.
Fifty-two reconnaissance pit samples were taken, returning max values of 409 mg/L lithium and 1.56% potassium. Overall average values came in at 62 mg/L lithium, 4661 mg/L potassium and 9800 mg/L magnesium.
The drill program included four vertical diamond drill holes totalling 878 meters with all four holes encountering lithium-bearing brines, mainly in sand and gravel units located throughout the holes. Lithium values from the brine samples were modest but fairly consistent requiring further follow-up.
Future work will focus on sampling the northern part of the salar and identifying sub-domains within the salar with higher lithium grades.
Antofalla Lithium Project: Argentina Lithium has acquired a 100%-interest in approximately 22,000 acres of mining claims in the north end of the Salar de Antofalla.
The Salar de Antofalla is approximately 150 km long and 6 km wide and is located at 3,900 meters elevation.
The geological environment at the Salar de Antofalla is similar to other salars in the Puna region where lithium and potash are found. Reported grades from the salar include 350 mg/l lithium and 6,400mg/l potash.
Argentina Lithium has completed a geophysical survey and reconnaissance drilling at the northern part of the Antofalla property.
The survey identified targets with high conductivity in the first 100 metres and moderate conductivity at deeper levels with which to follow up.
The Opportunity
Lithium, the so-called “white petroleum,” is the lightest metal on earth.
And because of its high energy per unit mass relative to other electrical energy storage systems — the soft, silvery-white alkali metal is ideal for use in car batteries as well as laptops, cell phones, and a host of consumer electronic devices.
Lithium batteries have become the front-running rechargeable energy storage medium — particularly for the rapidly growing electric vehicle (EV) industry — creating a strong demand forecast for lithium.
Today’s EV trend is being fueled by $billions in investment by the world’s largest automakers such as Volkswagen, BMW, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, GM, Ford, and Fiat-Chrysler.
In fact, commitments to invest in lithium-ion batteries and EVs now totals an astounding US$90 billion globally with 39+ automakers moving into the electric/plug-in hybrid vehicle space.
James Jeary of CRU Group told Investing News Network (INN), “The main surprise in the lithium market this year was on the demand side. EV sales were hugely resilient, particularly in Europe. Even in China, the recovery of sales in H2 after a sluggish H1 has been very strong.”
Bloomberg New Energy Finance projects that by 2040, 58% of all global vehicle sales will be electric. That’s over 55 million EVs being sold annually — a nearly 20-fold increase from the 3 million being sold today.
The global demand for a cleaner, greener future is a goal that Argentina Lithium & Energy believes it can support through the exploration and development of lithium resources in South America’s Lithium Triangle — particularly via its two 100%-owned projects, plus pending lithium property acquisitions, in northwestern Argentina.
Grosso Group Advantage
Argentina Lithium & Energy is a member of the Grosso Group — a resource management team that has literally pioneered the mineral exploration industry in Argentina with active in-country operations since 1993.
The Grosso Group has made four major metals discoveries in Argentina to-date and has held partnerships with some of the biggest names in the mining sector including Barrick, Teck Cominco, and Rio Tinto.
The group has been following the lithium sector for decades and believes the time is ripe for expanding its efforts in lithium resource development in the highly prospective Argentinean portion of the Lithium Triangle.
And the vehicle the group is putting forth to accomplish that objective is Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp.
Argentina Lithium is led by president & CEO, Niko Cacos, who has worked with the Grosso Group since its inception and serves as a senior level executive for all of the group’s member companies.
Our own Gerardo Del Real of Junior Resource Monthly sat down with Mr. Cacos for an in-depth discussion on all-things Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp. Listen in to that interview here (written transcript is also available). Enjoy!
You can also learn more about Argentina Lithium & Energy here.
Yours in profits,
Mike Fagan
Editor, Resource Stock Digest
Mike Fagan has mining in his blood. As a teenager he staked countless gold and silver properties in Nevada alongside his dad, Brian Fagan, who created the Prospect Generator model that’s still widely used today in the resource space. One of those staking projects was put into production by a major Canadian mining company — a truly rare and profitable experience. That background uniquely qualifies him as a mining stock speculator. One of the most well-known names in the business, Mike is now putting that experience to use for the benefit of Resource Stock Digest and Hard Asset Digest readers.
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