Power Minerals Limited redefined its strategy in Salta along two lines of exploration and development: a portfolio of five lithium salars that it seeks to advance toward a production scheme through direct lithium extraction (DLE), and the relaunch of Santa Inés, a copper and gold project.
By Panorama Minero
Power Minerals owns 100% of the Salta Lithium Project, located in the northwest of the province and comprising the Incahuasi, Arizaro, Rincón, Pocitos and Pular salars. Together, the assets cover 145.29 square kilometres distributed across seven mining concessions.
The company’s 2026 Annual Report shows a diversified portfolio in Salta, with which it seeks to advance toward potential lithium production operations. The proposed structure contemplates a 59% interest for Summit Explore and a 41% interest for Power Minerals in a potential joint venture, once the stipulated conditions have been met and a definitive agreement has been signed. The understanding also contemplates the possibility of incorporating up to three additional brine projects that Summit Explore is considering acquiring in the region.
Rincón, the Most Advanced Asset
Within the portfolio, Rincón occupies a central position. The project comprises 3,001 hectares within the Rincón salar and is located near other lithium developments in the region.
In January 2026, Power Minerals regained 100% ownership of the project. Since then, it has begun discussions with potential new partners, seeking to maintain a majority interest in any future financing or development agreement.
The company also launched a resource expansion program that includes geophysical studies and the development of a three-dimensional geological-hydrogeological model. The objective is to improve knowledge of the basin and generate a new technical basis for future resource estimates.
The latest published estimate contemplates Measured and Indicated resources at Rincón of 157,100 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), in addition to 135,400 tonnes of Inferred LCE resources.
Incahuasi and Development Through DLE
The company’s strategy also contemplates advancing Incahuasi. A conceptual study evaluated the possibility of extracting and concentrating the brine at the salar, subsequently transporting it for processing through DLE at Pocitos and producing lithium carbonate.
Incahuasi has a Measured and Indicated resource of 235,100 tonnes LCE, with an average lithium concentration of 198 mg/L. The study contemplates the technical possibility of obtaining high-purity lithium carbonate.
Santa Inés Puts Copper Back on the Agenda
The second pillar of the Salta strategy is Santa Inés, a copper and gold project that Power Minerals owns 100% and that was relaunched in January 2026.
The company presents Santa Inés as a copper-gold exploration target, located in the Salta Puna within an important northeast-trending structural corridor. According to the Annual Report, the identified mineralization is mainly associated with mafic dykes and breccia zones. Fieldwork and rock sampling identified copper minerals such as malachite, azurite and chrysocolla, as well as iron oxides.
In its January announcement, Power Minerals reported surface samples with grades above 1% copper and up to 0.8 g/t gold, while the first 651.4 metres of drilling carried out at the project intersected mineralization in all five holes completed. The company also highlighted that historical drilling reached only approximately 130 metres in depth, while, according to the reported geophysical information, potentially mineralized anomalies were identified from approximately 600 metres.
