Advantage Lithium Corp. – Cauchari JV Drill Program Update

Advantage Lithium Corp. (the “Company” or “Advantage Lithium”) (TSXV:AAL,OTCQX:AVLIF) is pleased to announce further positive progress with its Cauchari JV drilling and pumping program where three drill rigs are now expanding the depth and lateral extent of the existing NI43-101 mineral resource dated December 20161.
CAU09 drilling results
The second rotary hole CAU09 is located in the SE sector of the project, approximately 2.5km SW from recently completed CAU10. Filter and casing sections along with gravel pack were installed to the 400m hole depth. The hole was subsequently cleaned and developed prior to the preliminary pumping test and sampling completed on the hole. The flow rate from this initial test was 4 l/s, with filters installed in the hole in intervals between 60m and the planned depth of 400 metres. The hole was constructed with 8 inch steel casing and filters to a depth of 125 m, to provide a chamber for the pump to be installed in, with 6 inch casing and filters to the base of the hole at 400 m depth.
A preliminary pumping test of 2.5 hours has been completed on CAU09, with 21 samples taken during the test, averaging 662 mg/l lithium and 6,169 mg/l potassium, with an average low Mg/Li ratio of 2.2:1. Quality control/assurance included three duplicate, 5 standard and 3 blank samples. All analyses were completed in a commercially accredited laboratory in Argentina.2 These initial pumped brine samples compare to an average of 682 mg/l for CAU10 and approximately 700 mg/l for Lithium Americas Corp. (LAC) hole PB13, ~2.5 km to the northeast and ~2.5 km to the north respectively (refer to map fig.1).
CAU09 intersected a sequence of halite, clay and some sand like hole CAU10. The flow rate from the preliminary pumping test in CAU09 is similar to the closest LAC production well (PB1), which was flow tested at 4 l/s over 8 days3. Further to the north in the core of the salar CAU10 displayed a sustained flow rate of 2 l/s over the preliminary 48 hour pumping test.
The lithologies intersected in CAU09, CAU10 and PB1 are predominantly compact halite, confirming these holes are located in the halite core of the Cauchari salar. The halite core is interpreted to be limited to this central area of the salar, with more interbedded units of clay, halite, silt and sand located further to the south and east of CAU09, as intersected in drilling by Orocobre subsidiary South American Salars (SAS) in 2011. This area southeast of the halite core is now the focus of drilling with the remaining rotary holes (CAU08 and CAU11) in the SE sector. This will provide information on changes in sediment type and porosity/permeability away from the halite core.
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1 Inferred resource estimated at 230 million cubic metres of brine at 380 mg/l Li and 3,700 mg/l K representing in situ contained content of 470,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) and 1.62 million tonnes of potash (KCL). Source: Independent Technical Report, Murray Brooker et. al, December 2016.
2 Assaying completed at Alex Stewart Laboratories in Jujuy city, Argentina under strict QA/QC protocols.
3 LAC NI43-101 report Reserve Estimation and Lithium Carbonate Production at the Cauchari-Olaroz Salars, Jujuy Province, Argentina, March 29 2017 p131 and p125
NW Target Area
In salars it is typical that some areas display lower porosity and permeability characteristics (such as the halite core) and it is important to define areas with different flow and lithium grade characteristics for project planning and feasibility purposes. The operating Olaroz brine project ~20 km to the north of the Cauchari JV operates production wells extracting brine at a range of flow rates and lithium grades, with the most productive wells producing from sandy units (see Orocobre announcement – Olaroz Project Large Exploration Target Defined Beneath Existing Resource 23 October, 2014).
The Cauchari JV has been drilling sandy material in hole CAU07 in the NW target area, with more details to be provided as they become available.
New rotary drill holes in the SE Sector
In line with the program plan, the rotary drill rigs from hole CAU09 and CAU10 are currently drilling at sites CAU08 and CAU11 where they have reached the target depth of 400 m. These holes are now being widened to allow installation of pipe and filters. Drilling intersected a sequence of silt, clay, halite and sand. Further information will be provided as it comes available when wells are installed and sampled.
President & CEO Mr. David Sidoo said: “The drilling program has now picked up speed with three rigs on site. CAU09 has returned a lithium grade averaging 662 mg/l, which is very positive for the project and confirms our initial expectations of lithium brine chemistry that is similar to the nearby Olaroz lithium facility. The deeper drilling to 400 m has confirmed extension of brine to this depth, with positive implications for resource expansion. With holes CAU08 and CAU11 now having reached their target depths we look forward to reporting brine results from these holes and diamond hole CAU07 in the NW Sector in the near future.”
The technical information in this news release has reviewed and approved on behalf of the company by Murray Brooker, MAIG, RPGEO, a “Qualified Person” as defined in NI 43-101.
About Advantage Lithium Corp.
Advantage Lithium Corp. is a resource company specializing in the strategic acquisition, exploration and development of lithium properties and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The common shares of the company are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V:AAL), and the company is also traded on the OTCQX Best Market in the U.S. (OTCQX: AVLIF). The company has acquired a 100% interest in five projects in Argentina and up to a 75% interest in a sixth, called Cauchari. Cauchari is located just 20 km south of Orocobre’s flagship Olaroz Lithium Facility.
Further information about the Company can be found at www.advantagelithium.com.
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Source: www.newswire.ca