Pocitos I - Salta, Argentina
Pocitos I is a 100% owned 800-hectare lithium brine project located in the Salar de Pocitos, in the lithium-rich Puna region of northwestern Argentina. The basins in this area produce over 52% of the lithium brine resources in the World.
Project Summary
WSP Australia completed a 2023 NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate (“MRE”) which in combination with the neighbouring block “Pocitos 2” a 532 hectare block contained a lithium carbonate equivalent (“LCE”) inferred resource of 760,000 tonnes* lce. All of the drilling to date occurred on American Salars Pocitos 1 block however the mineral resource estimate will need to be updated to reflect what is contained on the Pocitos 1 Block.
The Puna plateau consists of elevated blocks separated by elongated endorheic (closed) basins, which are contain evaporite deposits. Surrounding mountain ranges have a meridian orientation and their shape responds to uplift in blocks through faults. The Pocitos and Pozuelos basins are separated from each other by the Cordón de Pozuelos. The Cordón de Pozuelos is made up mainly of rocks of Ordovician age, which show slight metamorphism. At the foot of the mountain ranges numerous coalescing alluvial fans can be seen.
The Puna area is bordered on the North by the massif of the Quevar Volcanic Complex (QVC). This is where composite volcanoes unite and form multiple volcanoes. Rounded forms are found, resistant to erosion and, in some areas, such as the Azufre volcano, landslide phenomena are observed. The sedimentary Tertiary deposits are distributed in small outcrops, and they show very low erosion resistance, so they do not form outstanding reliefs.
In the Salar de Pocitos, the main component of the evaporites is halite. The southern portion of the Pocitos salt flat contains accumulations lithium minerals combined with of sodium sulfate and gypsum, the middle region contains part sodium chloride predominates and towards the north manifestations of ulexite (hydrated sodium calcium borate hydroxide) are present. Current clastic deposits correspond to sediments of different origin according to their location with respect to positive reliefs and endorheic basins.
Above 4,500m asl there is evidence of the last glaciation, which is why moraine deposits are found. At lower altitudes, thermoclastism and cryoclastism have generated a large amount of colluvial material that covers the areas of positive relief.
On the slopes surrounding the salt flats, the rivers in the area have formed alluvial fans, most of which are non-functional today. Towards the lower areas, fine sediments predominate, forming the beach environments of the edges of saline bodies.
American Salars announced the 100% acquisition of the Pocitos 1 block on June 17th, 2024. See Press Release.
* Cautionary Statement
The NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate (“MRE”) includes resource assumptions from the Pocitos 2 block which American Salars Lithium Inc. has no ownership. The MRE is contained on the Pocitos 1 block (800 Ha) in combination with the neighbouring Pocitos 2 block (532 Ha). All of the drilling that makes up the basis of the MRE, on the combined Pocitos 1 and Pocitos 2 blocks, occurred on the Pocitos 1 block that is being acquired by American Salars. The MRE will be updated to reflect the proportional lithium resource on the Pocitos 1 block.
NATURALLY FLOWING LITHIUM BRINE
2022 Drilling
2018 Drilling
2018 Drilling
Project highlights
A recent mineral exploration on the Galt claim group under option to Surge Battery Metals (CSE:NILI) located 11 Miles to the South includes 51 playa sediment samples collected for chemical analysis at ALS Geochemistry in Vancouver, B.C.
Results of aqua regia leaching of the samples show 68 to 852 parts per million lithium (mean 365 ppm), 5.3 to 201 ppm cesium (mean 72 ppm) and 35 to 377 ppm rubidium (mean 180 ppm). Results from two seven-foot-deep auger holes show lithium, cesium, and rubidium concentrations in the range of 143.5 to 773 ppm Li, 56.8 to 102.5 ppm Cs and 155 to 272 Rb.
Recent Mineral Exploration completed by Nevada Energy Metals Inc. in 2016 (NICL-V) tested for lithium (Li) values in playa evaporates returned significant geochemical results at the Company’s 100% owned Black Rock Desert Project in Nevada. Geochemical sample points were arranged on a grid pattern of 11 lines spaced 400 meters apart with stations every 200 meters along the lines. One hundred and seventy (170) soil samples were collected. Results ranged from 82.8 to 520 parts per million (ppm) lithium with a median value of 182 ppm. Twelve samples carried over 300 ppm Li.
These results show that dissolved lithium has been transported into this portion of the Black Rock Desert and is available for potential concentration by evaporative brines. The exploration model for the Black Rock Project is a Clayton Valley evaporative brine deposit as described in USGS Open File Report 2013-1006.
The entire San Emidio Desert basin is a highly prospective lithium exploration zone and is about 38 km long and up to 11 km wide at the widest point with the central playa measures about 8.5 km north – south and 4.5 km east – west.
A proposed four-hole drill program at the Galt project is pending permitting approval is designed to test a tight grouping of highly anomalous surface sediment sampling locations which returned assay values with a high of 312 ppm lithium and a mean value of 215 ppm lithium.
