Pursuit Minerals Ltd (ASX: PUR) has revealed a significant upgrade to the JORC (2012) Mineral Resource Estimate at its Rio Grande Sur (RGS) Project in Argentina’s Salta Province, highlighting the project’s exceptional potential.
The updated estimate confirms a substantial resource of 1,104,300 tonnes of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) at an average concentration of 505.8 mg/L lithium, marking a 334 per cent increase from the previous resource.
This upgrade further establishes Rio Grande Sur as a key player in Argentina’s lithium brine sector.
The Rio Grande Sur Project, spanning over 9,260 hectares of tenements on and around the Rio Grande Salar, is located 280 kilometres from Salta, Argentina.
The salar, covering approximately 27,500 hectares, neighbours projects owned by major players like Rio Tinto and other ASX-listed companies.
The resource upgrade stems from two recently completed diamond drill holes, DDH-1 and DDH-2, which revealed high-grade lithium brine throughout their depths.
DDH-1, completed on June 27, 2024, reached a depth of 563.5 metres, while DDH-2, finished on August 21, 2024, extended to 500 metres.
With the resource and brine aquifer open at depth, there is considerable potential for expansion through deeper drilling and new tenement acquisitions.
Pursuit Minerals is progressing towards DDH-3 certification at its Mito tenement, located less than two kilometres from a neighbouring company’s drill hole that achieved 900mg/l Li intercepts, some of the highest grades in Argentina.
Aaron Revelle, Pursuit Minerals’ managing director and CEO, expressed enthusiasm about the project’s prospects: “A 1.1 million tonne resource with lithium grades consistently above 500 mg/L, combined with the potential for further expansion, positions Rio Grande Sur as a large-scale, low-cost lithium project with significant development upside.”
The company is now focusing on commercial production, with its 250-tonne-per-annum Lithium Carbonate Pilot Plant in Salta nearing production.
Sampling and off-take discussions with potential partners are planned to secure long-term agreements.
Pursuit Minerals is well-positioned to capitalise on Argentina’s favourable mining environment, including the government’s Régimen de Incentivos para Grandes Inversiones (RIGI) initiative, which provides tax and trade benefits for major projects.
As the global demand for lithium continues to grow, Pursuit Minerals’ Rio Grande Sur Project stands out as a significant player in the lithium market, poised for transformative growth in the coming years.
