Millennial Lithium Corp. announced the engagement of Montgomery and Associates Inc., a United States-based hydrogeological consultancy to provide drill program and pumping test guidance and complete a NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate at the Pastos Grandes Project. The Pastos Grandes Project covering over 6000 hectares of the Pastos Grandes Salar in Salta, has been the subject of several recent exploration drill holes, all of which indicate significant lithium brine from surface to depths exceeding 400 metres.
Following completion of the phase I program, Millennial and its consultants have determined that a compliant lithium resource can be estimated with a budget that is significantly less than previously envisioned.
Millennial Lithium Corp. closed its private placement Financing of 4,750,000 units at $1.25 per unit for proceeds of $5,937,500.
Proceeds of the Financing will be used to complete the 43-101 resource drilling and for general working capital. In addition to overseeing ongoing operations in Argentina, management has recently completed a tour through Japan, Hong Kong, China and Thailand where they were introduced to a number of strategic partners and/or end users. Although these relationships are at a very early stage, NDA’s have been executed with several parties.
«While there is no certainty that any definitive agreements will arise from the 5 NDA’s signed to date it is encouraging to see the level of interest from potential strategic partners and end users at this early stage of our development. Millennial looks forward to completing an NI 43-101 resource estimate and further its talks with these groups. We appreciate the significant cost savings that Montgomery & Associates has identified,» reports Graham Harris, Chairman of Millennial Lithium.
Cauchari East
Millennial also reports it has initiated a ground geophysics program at its Cauchari East Project in Jujuy province. Cauchari East covers an area of 2,990 hectares on the eastern side of the Cauchari-Olaroz Salar, adjacent to Orocobre’s producing Salar de Olaroz and Lithium Americas Corp.’s Cauchari-Olaroz Project.
The geophysics program consists of a Vertical Electrical Soundings (VES) survey comprising seven profiles, four on the northern block and three on the southern unit. The method is suitable for detecting layering in soils, top of bedrock, groundwater table and salt water intrusions. The latter two applications in particular are of particular use for identifying subsurface brine and the interface with near-surface fresh water at Cauchari East.
Historic gravity and magneto-telluric (MT) survey profiles to the south of the property reported in the Orocobre Technical Report, and VES survey results to the north of the property as reported by Lithium Americas both indicate that the brine-hosting aquifers extend beneath the Cauchari East Project.
Pocitos West project
Millennial Lithium Corp. reported it had made the initial payments under its option to acquire a 100% interest in the Pocitos West Project consisting of 15,857 hectares (39,183 acres) of prospective lithium brine exploitation concessions on the Pocitos Salar in Salta Province. Pocitos West is adjacent to ground recently acquired by Pure Energy Minerals Ltd. and is strategically located in close proximately to known lithium resources including the Rincon Project located 32 kilometres (km) to the north and the Sal De Vida Project 90km to the south. The Option was first announced on February 2, 2017.
Pocitos West is located 160km from Salta, and approximately 40 km due west of Millennial’s flagship Pastos Grandes Project where recent drilling has confirmed significant lithium brines from surface to depths of 400 metres. Pocitos West is directly accessible by Salta Provincial Highway 17 and close to other high quality regional and site infrastructure including local labour, rail and power generation.
The 60-kilometre-long Pocitos salar basin was previously drill tested by 12 shallow holes in 1979 by an Argentine government agency, the Direccion General de Fabricaciones Militares (DGFM). The most significant result from the historical work program includes a shallow drill hole, which averaged 417 parts per million (ppm) lithium and 15,300 ppm potassium. The results of these holes and the sampling conducted are historical in nature and cannot be confirmed by the Company under National Instrument 43-101 standards of exploration applicable today.
In 2010, Li3 Energy Inc. announced the results of 46 brine samples taken from just below the surface of the salar, with brine assays ranging from 300 ppm to 600 ppm lithium. These samples were taken immediately east of the Pocitos West property. Previous geophysical studies conducted by Li3 Energy Inc. also demonstrate the Pocitos basin, where sampled, is approximately 500 metres deep and that the prospective brine target is open and extends westward toward the Pocitos West property.
