Lake Resources sources additional drill rig to accelerate exploration at Kachi lithium brine project

Lake Resources (ASX: LKE) has moved to fast-track exploration at its 100%-owned Kachi lithium brine project after announcing it was transporting a larger rotary drilling rig to site.

The project is situated in Argentina’s Catamarca Province and encompasses 50,000 hectares of mining leases over the area’s salt lakes.

Earlier surface sampling across the project returned lithium mineralisation. Additionally, drilling has uncovered conductive brines in thick and porous sands, which indicates the potential for lithium brine.

The larger drill rig has been brought to site to support the current rig where drilling is targeting up to 350m depths to intersect anticipated higher brine grades at depth.

A maiden 1,000m drilling program kicked-off at the project in mid-November last year, with first assays still pending.

According to Lake, a third party had drilled nearby and achieved more than 250 milligrams per litre of lithium from 170m and deeper.

Kachi is about 80km from FMC Corp’s Hombre Muerto lithium brine mine and Galaxy Resources’ Sal de Vida lithium brine project.

Assays are anticipated during the current quarter as drilling continues.

To facilitate advancing Kachi, Lake’s wholly-owned subsidiary inked a letter of intent (LoI) with the State of Catamarca in September last year to accelerate the project’s exploration and development.

The LoI will hasten the project through the various permitting stages, including environmental approvals and community support.

Meanwhile, Lake reported its discussions regarding exploration access to its Olaroz-Cauchari and Paso lithium projects in Jujuy Province had advanced.

Lake claims it has one of the largest lease holdings prospective for lithium in Argentina, with its tenements totalling around 170,000 hectares. The tenements comprise three lithium brine projects and one hard rock lithium project.

Lithium Triangle

South America is home to what lithium enthusiasts have dubbed the “Lithium Triangle”.

The region houses more than half the world’s known lithium resources, with the majority coming from lithium brine.

Compared to hard rock lithium deposits, lithium brine projects are believed easier to explore and typically require less capital to bring online.

Shares in Lake were up almost 4% by midday to A$0.14.