Galan Lithium Limited has today announced the commencement of full Phase 1 pond construction at the Hombre Muerto West (HMV) lithium brine project in Argentina — with the first fleet of earthmoving equipment mobilised and active on-site.
This marks the company’s pivotal step towards achieving a production capabity of 5.4 kilo-tonnes per annum lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) by the first half of 2025.
The company aims to complete the construction, lining and filling of the first 205,000 square metre pond by the first quarter of 2024 in order to initiate the evaporation path to production during the summer months.
Other essential infrastructure upgrades, such as improvements to the camp, diesel storage, water supply and other site services, are also in progress.
Galan Lithium Limited Managing Director Juan Pablo (JP) Vargas de la Vega said: “This is the beginning of our construction journey to production. I would like to congratulate the global Galan team for their continued support to make this happen. This is also testimony to our desire to work locally with the community and contractors whilst receiving full support from the provincial government of Catamarca, Argentina.
“We have come a long way since our early days, considering Galan only obtained the original Hombre Muerto assets just over five years ago, and with all the delays experienced during Covid-19. This feels more real than ever for everyone at Galan. We will continue to give our best focused efforts to become a new lithium producer by H1 2025,” said Vargas de la Vega.
The first phase of the HMV Project concentrates on the production of lithium chloride concentrate in line with the approved construction permits.
The second phase of the project includes the release of a definitive feasibility study (DFS) in September 2023, targeting a full 20 kilo-tonne per annum LCE production rate.
Located in Puna, 90 kilometres north of Antofagasta de la Sierra and south-west to Salar del Hombre Muerto, the HMW project is the highest grade lithium brine deposit in Argentina — with a JORC resource of 6.6 million tonne LCE at 880 milligrams per liter of lithium.
Galan Lithium Limited is also actively engaged in third-party off-take and other strategic discussions.