London-listed sustainable lithium explorer CleanTech Lithium LON:CTL is working on developing a new greenfield lithium project in the lithium triangle of Chile. The new Llamara project will complement the company’s two existing flagship projects, Laguna Verde and Francisco Basin.
As part of the preparatory work on Llamara the company has applied for 119 new exploration licences which would allow exploration over a four-year period. CleanTech Lithium says it expects the application process to take around six months.The Llamara licences cover a total area of over 600km² located 600km north of Cleantech Lithium´s existing projects. They are part of a large basin which offers the possibility for further exploration. If a lithium resource is established, the project would leverage the company´s proprietary Direct Lithium Extraction process, a process more environmentally friendly than traditional lithium extraction as it replaces evaporation ponds in conventional lithium brine operations. Once DLE is applied, the lithium in the brine is concentrated to up to 10% lithium.
Cleantech Lithium is focusing on producing commercial quantities of battery grade lithium with near zero carbon emissions and low environmental impact. Earlier in June the AIM-listed company completed its laboratory scale test work on brine from Laguna Verde, which has confirmed that the project’s lithium surpasses the required benchmark grade for battery lithium and contains a very low level of impurities.
The company is gearing itself up to start providing the European Union electric vehicle market with green lithium by the second quarter of 2024. Demand here will rise sharply over the next decade as both the EU and the UK make electric vehicles mandatory. This has already been reflected in the lithium prices which have risen through the roof since the start of this year.
Altitude advantage
Located at a relatively low altitude of 1,100m, exploration at Llamara can take place year-round, even during the winter when both Laguna Verde and Francisco Basin stop operating for a period. Work done previously by an oil exploration company indicates that there is an extensive deep brine aquifer in the project area with thickness of several hundred meters. The aquifer has not yet been drilled or measured for lithium, but previous work has showed that there is a high concentration of the mineral in surface salt crusts and clay deposits, indicating that there is a lithium source within the basin.
An added advantage of the new licences is that they require minimal financial and work commitments over the next 18 month with the application costs likely to be below $100,000. An initial programme will involve determining drilling targets to be tested using a low-cost exploration drill hole.
“These licences add longer-term exploration potential to the near-term lithium production and cashflow potential of our existing flagship projects – Laguna Verde and Francisco Basin. We have been looking at these licences for some time and believe they help further our foothold in the prospective lithium triangle of northern Chile,” said CleanTech’s chief executive Aldo Boitano.
“With low upfront costs and minimal near and medium-term commitments there is a strong case for adding this project to the existing portfolio, the development of which remains the company´s absolute focus,” Boitano added.
