Anson Resources Advances Green River Lithium Plant with Small-Scale Mining Approval

Anson Resources (ASX: ASN) has received approval for a small-scale mining operation covering the planned 10,000-tonne-per-annum lithium carbonate development at its Green River project in Utah.

The approval covers the direct lithium extraction processing site, brine extraction field, and spent-brine disposal field planned on Anson-owned land near Green River.

Anson considers the small-scale mining approval the final major government authorisation required for the proposed full-scale lithium carbonate plant.

The permitting milestone allows the company to establish clearer development time frames while advancing engineering and potential project financing discussions.

Permitting Pathway Complete

The approved operation sits within Green River city limits, and is defined by its land disturbance footprint rather than its proposed production capacity.

Anson plans to locate the direct lithium extraction plant on a privately owned 59.6-hectare parcel acquired in 2023, which enables extraction, processing, transport, and disposal activities to be undertaken within the property boundaries under a less complex approvals framework.

The site is already classified for industrial use and sits approximately 1.3 kilometres east of the Green River and immediately north of Interstate 70.

Green River provides access to interstate roads, the national rail network, power, gas, water infrastructure and a potential local workforce.

Anson expects to source process water from either the Green River city supply or the river itself, and intends to use previously disturbed areas for well pads and associated infrastructure to minimise additional environmental impact.

Plant Layout Targets Savings

An internal review of the recently completed front-end planning scoping study identified potential capital savings from shifting the proposed plant south and removing unnecessary infrastructure to reduce the processing footprint, ground disturbance, and associated construction requirements.

Anson will quantify the potential savings through the definitive engineering study already under way that will refine costs for the operation and provide a technical and financial basis for discussions with strategic partners, investors, and lenders.

The current layout places the processing plant approximately 200m to 600m from two proposed brine extraction wells, with planned disposal wells to be located between approximately 250m and 1,750m from the plant and connected through dedicated pipelines.

Historical oil and gas wells in the surrounding area intersected comparable brine-bearing formations, with some subsequently converted into disposal wells.

Anson plans to drill new disposal wells during plant construction to reinject spent brine into suitable subsurface formations following lithium extraction.

Injection Approval Already Granted

The Utah Department of Environmental Quality previously approved Anson’s underground injection control application following regulatory assessment and public consultation, allowing the company to reinject processed brine into subsurface disposal formations associated with the Green River development.

Anson has also developed static and dynamic three-dimensional subsurface models integrating geological and groundwater information across the project area, which will support extraction and disposal well design, fluid-flow simulations and future operating cost estimates.

Chief executive officer Bruce Richardson called the approval a “significant step forward in the development of the project”.

“The approvals are a result of Anson building relationships with numerous government departments over the past three years since its acquisition of private land at Green River,” he said.

“The end of the permitting process takes the company into the next critical phase of project financing.”