| SUMMARY (40,000 TPA DFS, 100% BASIS, $ values are in USD) | |
|---|---|
| Location | Jujuy, Argentina |
| Ownership | 44.8% LAC 46.7% Ganfeng Lithium 8.5% JEMSE |
| Project type | Conventional brine |
| Annual production capacity | 40,000 tpa Li2CO3 |
| Project life | 40 years |
| Project capital costs* | $979 million |
| Operating costs | $3,579/t Li2CO3 |
| EBITDA (average) | $308M |
All economic results at $12,000/t of battery-grade lithium carbonate (Li2CO3)
See the technical report titled, “Updated Feasibility Study and Mineral Reserve Estimation to Support 40,000 tpa Lithium Carbonate Production at the Cauchari-Olaroz Salars, Jujuy Province, Argentina” (the Technical Report) dated effective September 30, 2020 and filed on SEDAR on October 19, 2020
* See the Company’s news release of March 31, 2023 for full details.
Franco Mignacco, has been the President of Minera Exar S.A., since September 2015. He was the Vice Chairman of Lithium Americas Corp., from June 25, 2013 to September 2015. Franco holds an MBA from San Andres University, Buenos Aires, Argentina and his honours in mining at Universidad Austral, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Cauchari-Olaroz is located in Jujuy Province in north-west Argentina. The Project is situated in the Salar de Olaroz and Salar de Cauchari, adjacent to Orocobre Ltd.’s Olaroz facility, which has been in production since 2015. Cauchari-Olaroz is well serviced by nearby infrastructure including major paved highways, a national and international rail link which connects to the port of Antofagasta in Chile, a high-voltage power grid, and a gas pipeline.
The ponds are lined with a polymer-based material laid over a protective geosynthetic material and engineered granular bedding. The ponds configuration includes provision for uninterrupted production during salt harvesting and maintenance work. Brine will be transferred between the successive evaporation ponds using self-priming pumps.
Screened wells will target the largest lithium brine aquifers. Submersible electric pumps are proposed for brine pumping. These pumps will send the brine to evaporation ponds through a network of pipelines and mixing pools.
The Cauchari and Olaroz Salars are classified as “Silver Peak-type” or “sulphate type brine deposits.” These deposits are characterized by restricted basins within deep structural depressions in-filled with sediments differentiated as inter-bedded units of clays, salt (halite), sands and gravels. In the Cauchari and Olaroz Salars, a lithium-bearing aquifer has developed during arid climatic periods. On the surface, the salars are presently covered by carbonate, borax, sulphate, clay, and sodium chloride facies.
The production process involves two distinct steps and is generally consistent with other established brine operations. The first step uses a solar evaporation process to concentrate lithium in the brine and precipitate competing salts in large-scale ponds. The ponds at Cauchari-Olaroz are based on SQM’s pond design criteria used in their existing Atacama operation and involve the use of shallow ponds where the precipitated salt is annually harvested from the flat pond base. The second step uses the processing facilities that transform the concentrated lithium brine into battery-grade lithium carbonate while ensuring the removal of impurities from the end-product.
