Oct 29 2020
Alpha Lithium Corporation reports that an exploration drilling program has been initiated at its flagship Tolillar Lithium Project based in Salta Province, Argentina. The project is located in the heart of the world’s famous Lithium Triangle.
Establishing a $10 million treasury and building on successful capital injections, Alpha Lithium has also provided a summary and detailed operational update of forthcoming plans for capital deployment.
As earlier noted, sampling at shallow depths on the Tolillar Salar has yielded high lithium concentrations of 504 mg/L.
After concluding the new geophysics programs, the last of which is still being subjected to final analysis before publishing the outcomes, Alpha Lithium is currently mobilizing crew and equipment to initiate drilling operations, beginning with the targets detected in the first geophysics campaign.
It is estimated that the drilling program will entail at least four sites, integrating diamond and rotary drilling, apart from coring operations. At least one site has been scheduled to secure a valuable and strategic source of freshwater, which will be crucial for upcoming operations and production.
Moreover, diamond drilling will offer bigger and cased wellbores with slots or perforations that are aligned with zones detected geophysically or geologically as target zones. Following this, flow-tests can be performed on such lithological units to establish effective permeability.
In addition, brine samples can be collected at numerous intervals at the time of the flow tests to establish the quality and chemistry of brine. Core-holes are meant to offer geological samples to Alpha Lithium. These samples can offer quantitative measures of drainable porosity.
The entire data acquired from drilling can be used to improve the geochemical and hydrogeological models of Alpha Lithium.
The initial geophysics and sampling that has been completed have compelled us to start drilling immediately. We have valid drilling licenses in hand for some of the initial targets and our local team is renewing those few that expired during Argentine COVID shutdowns. Those reapplications are now underway, as is the drilling program on the licenses we do have in hand.
Brad Nichol, President and CEO, Alpha Lithium Corporation
Alpha Lithium has envisioned three phases of drilling and all targets have been selected on the basis of geophysical detection of important and highly conductive target zones:
- Phase 1 Drilling—a pair of holes was drilled to shallow targets: Alpha Lithium currently has drilling licenses, and operations, such as the construction of roads and platforms, are already ongoing. The initial phase of the geophysics campaign indicated the presence of brine at shallower depths. A couple of initial holes is expected to be drilled up to 100 m in a span of 90 days or less. Agile and small rotary drilling equipment, which are locally available, will be used to conclude the initial phase of the campaign. Alpha Lithium is looking forward to producing from, and acquiring useful data on, the upper lithology detected at the time of the initial geophysical program to further interpret the hydrogeological system of the Tolillar Salar.
- Phase 2 Drilling—a total of four holes were drilled to medium-depth targets: Due to regional COVID shutdowns, Alpha Lithium has deferred submitting the simple permit renewal applications to sustain the present licenses on these sites. Now, after returning to normalized regional operations, Alpha Lithium has effectively submitted the needed applications to reestablish the drilling permits for holes spanning from 250 to 400 m. The first geophysics outcomes also indicated prospective deeper targets, and the second phase of drilling is estimated to be completed in up to 120 days. To drill these deeper wells, Alpha Lithium will secure a heavier and more capable rotary drilling rig. The information obtained from this second round of drilling is anticipated to supplement the shallower drilling outcomes and refine the parameters of the sub-surface model for the Tolillar Salar. Alpha Lithium is expecting to have the drilling licenses approved before the conclusion of the shallow holes with the aim to sustain continuous drilling operations.
- Phase 3 Drilling—More holes based on surface samples and new geophysics outcomes: Although the final geophysical outcomes are still pending, Alpha Lithium expects the final report to detect more targets. This extended target region matches with the highest sampled lithium concentrations of 504 mg/L in the Tolillar Salar with a correspondingly low ratio of magnesium to lithium (3.76:1). Accordingly, the management team at Alpha Lithium has its highest expectations for this region.
We are very eager for our local expert team to complete their analysis on the latest geophysical data, which will allow us to choose additional drilling locations in the area identified as our highest priority and highest potential. We are obviously very excited about drilling the current prospects and adding additional locations as they are identified. We will provide our shareholders with updates on geophysics, drilling permits and drilling progress, as those details become available.
Brad Nichol, President and CEO, Alpha Lithium Corporation
The team of operational experts at Alpha Lithium has demonstrated their potential to work at high altitudes and within the present COVID-restricted surrounding. Any required upgrades to Alpha Lithium’s prevailing on-site camp will be made to manage more equipment and crews, who will be working on the Tolillar Salar in a COVID-conscious surrounding.
Branding and Awareness Update
Further to its news release dated July 22nd, 2020, the company has also continued the engagement of Promethean Marketing Inc. on a monthly basis. Promethean Marketing will continue to offer general corporate awareness, marketing, and investor relations services to Alpha Lithium on the same basis as it did before.
The total expenses of Promethean Marketing’s services will differ on a month-to-month basis and are not expected to materially surpass the average monthly expenses of the initial engagement of Promethean Marketing.
Source: https://alphalithium.com/