Galan Lithium Confirms 85% Completion of Hombre Muerto West Phase 1 Operations

Galan Lithium (ASX: GLN) has confirmed that a nanofiltration plant for Phase 1 operations has arrived at its flagship Hombre Muerto West (HMW) project site in Argentina’s Catamarca Province.

The company’s technical team is working with specialists from Australian lithium explorer Authium to assemble the plant over the coming weeks, after which commissioning activities will begin.

The HMW project is one of the highest-grade and lowest-impurity lithium brine assets in Argentina, hosting a resource of 9.5 million tonnes lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) with grades of up to 841 milligrams per litre.

Key funding and offtake agreements signed last year with Authium will provide Galan with a market for the sale of 45,000t lithium chloride concentrate to a production facility in the US over a minimum six year period, delivering approximately $9.4 million in offtake pre-payments.

Notably, the deal will help fund, supply and operate processing technology at HMW to position Galan with materially-lower upfront capital and operating costs.

Key Flowsheet Component

Managing director Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega said the plant was a key component of Galan’s processing flowsheet and would enable the efficient treatment of brine as part of the Phase 1 production process.

“Over the past two years, we have accumulated a lithium brine inventory of around 9,500t LCE in the ponds at HMW,” he said.

"In the short term, we plan to complete the nanofiltration plant assembly and commissioning, which will allow for the first processed lithium brine to be produced from HMW."

“The plant has been designed, tested, constructed and transported on an accelerated schedule and I would like to recognise the Authium and Galan teams who have come together in a spirit of partnership to make this possible.”

Phase 1 Progress

Overall construction of HMW Phase 1 is approximately 85% complete, reflecting continued strong progress across processing infrastructure, evaporation ponds and supporting site facilities.

Construction of sylvinite ponds has been completed to accelerate the evaporation of processed brine, which leads to quicker production of lithium chloride concentrate and product sales for Galan.

Work on the ponds will continue after the nanofiltration plant has been commissioned, to allow for the expanded LCE production rate of 5200 tonnes per annum.

Galan said the last phase of construction activities would include commissioning and testing of brine processing systems, the targeting of first processed brine and lithium chloride concentrate in the first half of this year.