Argosy Minerals has confirmed an upgrade to the total mineral resource estimate at its flagship Rincon lithium project in Argentina’s Salta province.
The company engaged Perth-based water management consultancy AQ2 to prepare the update, which includes new tenements acquired in June, an expanded suite of exploration targets and proposed associated field activities.
The estimates represent the volume of potentially recoverable brine contained within the defined Rincon aquifer.
New resource
The updated resource comprises 731,801 tonnes of lithium carbonate with a weighted mean average lithium concentration of 329 milligrams per litre, including an indicated portion of 640,330t of lithium carbonate at 327mg/L and an inferred 91,471t at 352mg/L.
AQ2 revised the Rincon exploration target to between 186,000t and 466,000t of lithium carbonate at depths of between 102.5 metres and 400m below the indicated resource in the northern project area and as deep as 400m below ground level within the alluvial fan tenements area.
The combined resource estimate and exploration target outline the potential for a range of between 917,000t and 1.2Mt of lithium carbonate to a depth of 400m.
Updated modelling
Argosy managing director Jerko Zuvela said the new figures would be used to update the project’s hydrogeological and dynamic modelling.
This will in turn contribute to the engineering and definitive feasibility study works currently in progress.
“These significant milestones further validate our ambitions and near-term growth plans to fully develop the Rincon project,” Mr Zuvela said.
New tenements
Argosy secured 58.12 square kilometres of new tenements at Rincon in June through local company Puna Mining SA.
The acquisition increased the project’s total acreage to a little over 86 sq km of lithium and associated infrastructure services for an expanded 10,000tpa operation.
The tenements provide the company with greater access to water, infrastructure, energy sources and land usage availability.
Some of them are located within the drilling areas used for the resource upgrade.
