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LAtIn AMeRIcA

Tesoro gold hunt in Chile Chile greenlights Maricunga

ndrew Phillips expects construction of
Athe Maricunga lithium brine JV project
in the Atacama region of northern Chile to
start soon.
“We are looking at putting a spade in the
ground for construction in Q3, so between
now and then there will be a lot of work
done to get the construction of the mine
under way,” the Lithium Power Internation-
al Ltd (LPI) executive director said.
Phillips spoke to Paydirt in light of Min-
era Salar Blanco S.A. (MSB), LPI’s Chil-
ean-based JV company at Maricunga,
announcing environmental approval was
granted for what is believed to be Chile’s
highest grade and most advanced lithium
project outside the Salar de Atacama.
LPI currently owns 51% of MSB, with the
JV partners confident Maricunga will be-
come a major lithium producer.
“We have been working on this for the
last five years and LPI for the last three
years; we are way ahead of any project LPI has received environmental approval for the Maricunga lithium project in Chile.
in Chile. We believe it is one of the most LPI has a 51% stake in the project
advanced pre-production lithium projects,”
Phillips said. to provide guidance on project finance op- diligence of MSB’s records and technical
“If you look at the market-place there is tions, including negotiations with potential data associated with the project, which
no project as advanced as us in the Mari- offtake partners and strategic investors. has scope to be expanded through con-
cunga or elsewhere. We believe we will be “We have always believed that lithium solidating mining concessions.
up and going to become the third major brine is a very strong commodity and we The maiden Maricunga reserve base of
Chilean lithium mine in the next year or have been pushing hard to get to where we 742,000t LCE is apt for a mine life in ex-
two.” are today; this is a very good step forward cess of 20 years. However, the resource
Chile hosts almost half of the world’s lith- for us as we look to take this to production. is only defined to a depth of 200m, with
ium reserves, according to its Mines Minis- The Chilean Government doesn’t just give deep borehole results indicating potential
try which has been advocating for greater [EIAs] away you have to work hard for it, for an additional 1-2.5mt of new resources
development of its resources downstream and we have,” Phillips said. between 200-400m on ground held under
through promotion of organisations such “It would be foolish to think that it [glob- the Maricunga JV alone.
as the Clean Technologies and its produc- al uncertainties such as coronavirus] Having enjoyed a solid JV with partners
tion development body CORFO. wouldn’t impact on any sector, but we can’t in Chile, LPI hopes to repeat the trick in Ar-
With an estimated 20,000 tpa LCE pro- control that. We can control our internal gentina where discussions on a potential
duction over 20 years, Maricunga will be- stuff and what we have and that is a pro- JV concerning the development of lithium
come Chile’s third most significant lithium ject that is something very special. Now it brine projects in the Centenario Salar (LPI
mine at a capital cost of $US563 million. is a matter of getting these last few things 70%, Marquee Resources Ltd 30%) were
A traditional debt/equity framework will squared away.” reportedly nearing a conclusion.
likely feature in the make-up of capital Battery makers and vehicle manufactur- LPI’s geographical spread is not limited
costs, while offtake agreements could also ers, most notably Tesla which has prom- to Latin America, with the company also
come into the equation. ised to step on the gas in the roll out of active in the famed lithium-bearing region
“We have been working through all of its EVs, have reported strong quarterly of Greenbushes in Western Australia’s
that along with the EIA. The EIA is the reporting seasons and indicated business south-west and the Pilbara in the state’s
cherry on top of the process to attract the growth as objectives moving forward. north.
right people,” Phillips said Such commentary will no doubt help the LPI’s interests lie north and south of the
The lithium market might have softened cause of companies like LPI which are at Greenbushes mine run by Tianqi Lithium
in the past 18 months and Chile experi- the pointy end of project development. and Albermale.
enced some civil unrest in the latter part of Concerning the path forward for Mari- The company carried out laterite and
2019, however, stability on both fronts ap- cunga, an agreement was signed in Au- soil sampling at Greenbushes in the last
pear to be prevailing, adding to LPI’s confi- gust whereby an MoU defining terms for quarter, where it also has approval for
dence of locking away project financing in the potential formation of a JV between drilling activities once it defines the most
a timely fashion. Codelco and MSB to see the Maricunga prospective areas to explore for lithium
The EPC bidding process for Maricunga Salar thrive under a private-public owner- pegmatites.
is expected to be completed in April, as ship structure. – Mark Andrews
Treadstone Resource Partners continues Codelco continues to advance its due

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