Power Minerals reports significant lithium grades from first hole at Incahuasi salar
Drilling at Incahuasi will comprise two diamond holes for 1,000m to generate a maiden resource.
Diversified explorer Power Minerals (ASX: PNN) has confirmed significant lithium grade, aquifer thickness and brine density results from resource definition drilling at the Incahuasi salar within the Salta project in northwest Argentina.
The company completed an initial diamond drill hole in November to a depth of 400 metres and intersected “highly positive” salar evaporite and semi-consolidated sedimentary lithologies to a depth of 339m before reaching basement rock.
Assays from that hole have delivered lithium content in brines averaging 197 parts per million from surface to approximately 300m depth.
Field measurements of 1.21 grams per millilitre brine density and visual medium-to-high drainable porosity have demonstrated consistent hypersaline properties of lithium brine and shown potential to grow the current mineral resource estimate.
Final results on packer brine samples taken from 24 intersections returned lithium grades between 187 milligrams per litre and 202mg/L from a near-surface depth of between 28m to 304m.
Early results
Managing director Mena Habib said the company was encouraged by the early results.
“These results validate our previous initial visual indications and confirm the presence of significant lithium in brines,” he said.
“This is a highly encouraging outcome from the first hole in our ongoing resource definition campaign at Salta and confirms the potential to deliver significant new results to the existing resource estimate.”
Drilling of a second hole at Incahuasi is now underway and will be followed by a maiden mineral resource estimate for the salar before the end of the current quarter.
The company will then move onto drilling at the Rincon salar to expand the existing resource and exploration at the Pocitos salar to establish a maiden resource.
Lithium triangle
The Salta project is strategically located within Argentina’s lithium triangle which is the world’s leading lithium-brine region.
It consists of five salares (or salt lakes) within seven mining leases over a total project area of 147.07 square kilometres.
The Incahuasi salar is located immediately adjacent to Ganfeng Lithium Co’s project and the Rincon salar is adjacent to Rincon Mining’s namesake project which was recently acquired by Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) for US$825 million.
Mr Habib said Power is focused on driving shareholder value through Salta’s accelerated exploration and development.