The Conversation (0)
Pursuit Minerals Ltd (ASX: PUR) (“PUR”, “Pursuit” or the “Company”) is pleased to present its activities report for the quarterly period ended 30 September 2024.
HIGHLIGHTS
1. High Grade Lithium Results The latest drill results at the Rio Grande Sur Project demonstrated lithium concentrations exceeding 500mg/L, enhancing project value and supporting an anticipated resource upgrade. These results reenforce the project’s significant potential
2. Pilot Plant Milestone On Track
The 250 tpa Lithium Carbonate Pilot Plant is set for initial production by late 2024, a key milestone that moves the project closer to generating revenue and showcases Pursuit’s commitment to advancing value-creating phases.
3. Focused Resource and Feasibility Expansion With recent drill data, Pursuit is targeting a resource upgrade and continues its feasibility study scheduled for delivery in H1, 2025. These developments pave the way for potential commercial scaling, aligning with value driven growth.
4. Offtake Discussions Ongoing
Advanced negotiations for offtake agreements for lithium carbonate from the Pilot Plant focus on securing product demand and building revenue streams, all whilst minimising cash burn and supporting continuous production targets.
5. Strategic Review of Commando Gold Project The Commando Gold Project, with high grade intersections and renewed market interest, is being evaluated for review for potential exploration or partnerships, aligning with Pursuit’s low-cost strategy to create shareholder value from underutilised assets.
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
During the September 2024 quarter, Pursuit Minerals Ltd (“Pursuit” or “Company”) has continued to advance through numerous engineering and geological workstreams, permitting approval processes and stakeholder engagement activities at our flagship Rio Grande Sur Lithium Project in the Salta province of Argentina.
Rio Grande Sur (RGS) Lithium Project Argentina
The Rio Grande Sur Project comprises of 5 tenements prospective for lithium on the Rio Grande Salar in the Salta province of Argentina, in addition to a Lithium Carbonate Pilot Plant located in the city of Salta. The five tenements cover approximately 9,233 hectares (Table 1).
Table 1 – Rio Grande Sur Tenement Schedule
Rio Grande Sur Stage 1 Drilling Campaign.
During the quarter, Pursuit announced the preliminary results of Drill Hole 2 / DDH-2 at the Sal Rio 02 tenement (announcement dated 29 August 2024) with full results announced following the end of the period (See announcement dated 30 October 2024.)
DDH-2 achieved a depth of 500m, with Pursuit’s on-site geologists and drilling team having been extremely encouraged by the geological units encountered across the depths of the hole.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Pursuit Minerals, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
PUR:AU
Pursuit Minerals Investor Kit
- Corporate info
- Insights
- Growth strategies
- Upcoming projects
GET YOUR FREE INVESTOR KIT
Pursuit Minerals
Overview
Pursuit Minerals Ltd. (ASX:PUR) is a top-tier lithium exploration and development company. The company is focused on its flagship Rio Grande Sur lithium project in the Salta Province of Argentina. The project is strategically located in an area known as the Lithium Triangle which hosts 50 percent of the global lithium resources and 40 percent of the current global lithium production. Argentina is the world’s third largest producer of lithium, behind Australia and Chile.
The project spans an area of 9,260 hectares on the Rio Grande Salar and is adjacent to several operating lithium mines and development operations, including Acradium Lithium’s Fenix lithium mine and the Olaroz lithium mine. The Rio Grande Salar holds a historical Ni 43-101 resource declared by LSC Lithium, formerly listed on the TSX prior to being acquired by Plus Petrol of 2.1 million tons (Mt) of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) with an average grade of 370 milligrams per litre (mg/L). This resource was mostly obtained from shallow drilling to 100 metres.
Pursuit delivered a maiden JORC Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 251.3 kt LCE at 351 mg/L at the Rio Grande Sur project. The inferred resource relies on recent geophysical surveys and historical drilling, encompassing only a small portion of the known mineralization. Notably, excluding the highly promising Mito tenement from the current MRE highlights the unexplored potential for further resource expansion.
Pursuit has commenced its Stage 1 maiden drill program focused on upgrading the inferred resource. The drilling is anticipated to reach depths of 500 to 600 metres below surface, significantly deeper than the existing defined JORC mineral resource depth. Other companies in the region have obtained impressive results and grades of 900 mg/Li+ at depths of 500 metres, some of the highest known grades in Argentina. Pursuit expects a material resource upgrade in the second half of 2024 which will build on the inferred maiden resource.
Drill cores and packer lithium brine samples from Pursuit’s Stage 1 drilling program at the Rio Grande Sur Project.
In addition to having an attractive lithium resource, Pursuit is focused on the production of lithium carbonate to meet the supply side response to growing lithium demand. Recently, the company announced the first phase of operations of its 250 tons per annum (tpa) pilot plant to produce lithium carbonate. The plant will generate both technical and battery grade lithium carbonate at a purity of 99.95 percent, employing a conventional evaporation process.
Pursuit has submitted advanced environmental permits for the construction of the 250 tpa evaporation ponds and Stage 2 drill program at the northern tenement of the Rio Grande Sur project.
The establishment of the ponds is expected to take place in the latter part of 2024, pending environmental approvals. The ponds and the plant are planned to be situated on the Sal Rio 02 tenement enabling the possibility of initiating the first production of lithium carbonate on-site in 2025.
Pursuit is targeting continuous production at Rio Grande Salar and expects the current setup to be scalable to produce 15,000 to 20,000tpa of technical and battery grade lithium carbonate.
250-ton lithium carbonate pilot plant
The company’s focus on Argentina has several advantages. The new government, led by its president Javier Milei has signaled a market-friendly and pro-business policy shift. This should be a positive development for lithium miners given that Argentina has one of the largest lithium reserves in the world. Argentina holds 21 percent of the world’s 105 million tons of lithium resources, second only to Bolivia, according to the United States Geological Survey’s Lithium Statistics and Information 2024 report.
Lithium is in great demand driven by the growth in electric vehicles (EVs). Bloomberg NEF estimates lithium demand to jump by 225 percent to 2.6 Mt of LCE by 2030, translating into a CAGR of 16 percent. In a net-zero scenario, Bloomberg pegs the demand at 3.6 Mt of LCE by 2030, a CAGR of 19 percent.
The company remains focused on project execution that will deliver long-term shareholder value, including the completion of stage 1 drilling, JORC resource upgrade, first production of lithium carbonate and increasing production capacity to 250 tpa, and receipt of environmental permits, all within the first half of 2024.
In addition, Pursuit has identified the following catalysts over the next 12 months:
- Q3/Q4 2024: start of evaporation pond construction at Rio Grande, off-take agreement, relocation of 250 tpa pilot plant to Rio Grande.
- Q4 2024/Q1 2025: Detailed mineral resource study for commercial scale lithium carbonate operation; stage 2 drilling and JORC resource upgrade; first production from 250 tpa plant could commence as early as Q4 of 2025.
Company Highlights
- Pursuit Minerals is an ASX-listed company focused on advancing a pre-production lithium brine operation in Argentina.
- The company’s flagship Rio Grande Sur project covers 9,233 hectares on the Rio Grande Salar, in the Salta Province of Argentina located in the Lithium Triangle. The region is home to 50 percent of global lithium resources and 40 percent of world production.
- The acreage owned by Pursuit is situated within an Ni 43-101 inferred resource of 2.1 million metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), with an average grade of 370 milligrams per litre (mg/L) extending to a depth of 100 metres.
- Pursuit delivered a maiden JORC Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 251.3 kt LCE at 351 mg/L at the Rio Grande Sur Project. With its current Stage 1 drilling program currently underway, Pursuit is targeting a material resource upgrade in the second quarter of 2024, which will build on the recent inferred maiden resource.
- The company has commenced the first phase of operations to produce lithium carbonate at its recently commissioned pilot plant, which is expected to achieve an operational capacity of 250 tons per annum (tpa). This is a significant milestone in the journey to advance toward the first production at Rio Grande Sur.
- Despite temporary fluctuations in lithium carbonate prices, the market continues to demonstrate resilience, with long-term projections indicating a significant 225 percent surge to reach 2.6 million tons of LCE worldwide by 2030.
Key Project
Rio Grande Sur Lithium Project
The Rio Grande Sur is the company’s flagship lithium project. The project comprises five tenements that span 9,233 hectares and are located in Rio Grande Salar in Salta province, Argentina. The region has benefited from historical exploration that yielded an NI 43-101 resource of 2.19 Mt LCE @ 374 mg/L, at inferred category.
During Q4 2023, Pursuit announced a maiden JORC inferred mineral resource estimate of 251.3 kt LCE at 351 mg/L at the Rio Grande Sur project. Following this, Pursuit is currently undertaking a maiden drill program to upgrade the inferred resource. Stage 1 of the drill program will comprise four diamond drill holes on the southern tenements. The first two holes will be drilled at the Sal Rio II and Maria Magdelena tenements.
The drilling is anticipated to reach depths of 500 to 600 metres below surface, significantly deeper than the existing defined JORC mineral resource depth. The drilling commenced in Q1 2024, and Pursuit is targeting a material resource upgrade in the second quarter of 2024. Further drilling is expected following the completion of the Stage 1 program. The Stage 2 drilling program is anticipated to occur in the second half of 2024, after which Pursuit is targeting a feasibility study.
Management Team
Aaron Revelle – Chief Executive Officer
Aaron Revelle is a seasoned mining executive with experience in founding and developing natural resources companies. He has over 15 years of experience across a wide range of commodities and bringing them from deposits into production. He was the founder of Trilogy Minerals, which was acquired by Pursuit, and Centaur Resources, which focused on its flagship Pastos Grandes lithium project and was sold to Arena Minerals, and subsequently sold to Lithium Americas for over AU$300 million.
Peter Wall - Chairman
Peter Wall is a partner with Steinepreis Paganin, a leading law firm, and has rich experience in M&A, takeovers, recapitalizations, and reconstructions. He has significant expertise in various domains such as energy, resources, capital markets, and strategy. He is also the chairman of Minbos Resources.
Tom Eadie – Non-Executive Director
Tom Eadie is a director on the company board. He has over four decades of rich experience in the resource industry. Currently, he is the chairman of Alderan Resources and Southern Cross Gold. He was also the founding chairman of Syrah Resources.
Vito Interlandi – Company Secretary
Vito Interlandi is the managing partner at Nexia Melbourne and is responsible for corporate advisory. He has two decades of experience in finance, accounting, and capital markets and has served on the boards of several public and private companies.
This profile was written in collaboration with Couloir Capital.
Exploration Update
Highlights
- Mobilisation of crews for detailed geophysical survey over the identified 10km antimony corridor at Yallalong.
- Heritage clearance confirmed over two priority antimony drill targets, Discovery and Central, in preparation for drilling to commence.
- Drilling to focus on extending the existing high-grade antimony mineralisation along strike and at depth over the Discovery target.
- Heritage surveys over next 2 priority antimony targets planned for early December.
- Drill site preparation underway at the large Byro REE & Li project in readiness for metallurgical core drilling to commence mid-November.
Yallalong Antimony
The Yallalong project is located ~ 220km to the northeast of the port town of Geraldton in Western Australia and comprises two granted Exploration Licences, E70/5051 (100% owned) with an exploration area of 63.4km2 and E09/2823 (100% owned) with an exploration area of 94km2.
The antimony (Sb) mineralisation identified at Yallalong appears to occur within a 10km north- south striking mineralised corridor that is interpreted to be related to a structural corridor between the Darling and Woodrarung faults. (Refer ASX announcement 17 September 2024)
Octava will begin detailed gravity and seismic surveys over the identified antimony corridor at Yallalong. Teams will mobilise on ground in the coming days. The geophysical surveys will provide details on the key structures such as shears & faults which act as conduits to mineralising fluids. It will also provide better understanding of the key lithological boundaries.
Figures 1 Outcrop at the Discovery Prospect, Yallalong Project
POW applications covering the 4 priority antimony targets have been approved. These approvals cover the exploration and planned drilling of the antimony targets at the Yallalong Project.
The two priority targets, Discovery and Central, have confirmed heritage clearance, clearing the path for drilling to commence. Heritage surveys covering the No.4 and North targets are expected to be completed by early December in preparation for drilling early in the new year.
The drilling at the Discovery target will focus on extending the previously intersected high-grade antimony mineralisation, both along strike and at depth, with the aim of outlining an antimony resource. Drilling at the Central target will test anomalous antimony at surface, as no drilling has been carried out previously.
Byro
The Byro Project is located on the Byro Plains of the Gascoyne Region, Western Australia, 220 km south-east of Carnarvon and 650 km north of Perth. The Byro project is prospective for rare earths (REE’s), lithium and base metals. (Refer ASX announcement 24 January 2024)
Previous GSWA regional soil sampling and RC drilling has recorded wide areas and large intercepts of anomalous REE, Li & other elements including V and Zn. Previous work identifies an area of mineralisation occurring over more than 30km in strike length and 15km in width. See Figure 2.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Octava Minerals Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Quarterly Activities Report September 2024
Highlights
- Galan becomes the first mining company to apply for the Argentine ‘RIGI’, an incentive regime for large scale investments
- Strong lithium inventory build with over 6,000 tonnes LCE in ponds. Average lithium grade and evaporation rates in line with Phase 1 DFS
- First production from HMW is targeted for H2 2025. Overall project completion is approximately 45%
- Earthworks on ponds 5 and 6 complete; overall pond construction 76% complete with liner installation on ponds 55% complete
- Public consultation, one of the final steps towards the grant of Phase 2 construction permits, finished
- US$40 million offtake prepayment MOU with Chemphys
- Fully subscribed Entitlement Offer as part of a A$25m equity capital raising to support full funding of Phase 1 of HMW
- Cash of A$2.4m, capital raising proceeds of A$14m received subsequent to the end of the quarter
Figure 1. HMW Project looking north
Operations
HMW Project, Argentina (100% Galan)
The operational de-risking of Phase 1 of HMW advanced during the period. Lithium chloride inventories continued to build in the pond system to a current position of approximately 6,000 tonnes LCE. Lithium grades, flow rates and evaporation rates remained consistent with Feasibility Study expectations.
Galan has built approximately 730,000 m2 of evaporation area, allowing for an inventory build-up of up to 10,000 t LCE before the need to process the lithium chloride through a liming plant. The overall completion of the HMW Phase 1 project now sits at approximately 45% with 76% of the ponds constructed and 55% of the ponds lined. First production from HMW is anticipated in the second half of 2025. An initial production rate of 4,000 tpa LCE will be targeted before an expansion to production level 5,400tpa LCE when market conditions allow.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Galan Lithium, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Quarterly Activities Report - September 2024
- Jindalee raises $6.1M via Placement, Convertible Notes and Entitlement Issue
- Funding enables completion of optimised McDermitt PFS and advances permitting and engagement with US Government agencies, local community and strategic partners
- US Department of Energy to fund Cooperative Research and Development Agreement focussed on reducing costs at McDermitt and minimising environmental impact
- McDermitt PFS progressing well and on schedule for delivery Q4 2024
US LITHIUM
McDermitt Lithium Project (Jindalee 100%)
In February 2023, Jindalee Lithium Limited (Jindalee or the Company) announced an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) at Jindalee’s 100% owned McDermitt Lithium Project (McDermitt or the Project) (Table 1)1.
The 2023 MRE for McDermitt contains a combined Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Inventory of 3.0 Billion tonnes at 1,340 ppm lithium (Li) for a total of 21.5 Million tonnes lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) at 1,000 ppm cut-off grade. At 21.5 Mt LCE, McDermitt is the largest lithium deposit in the United States (US) by contained lithium in Mineral Resource, and a globally significant resource, with the deposit remaining open to the west and south.
Table 1 – Summary of 2023 McDermitt MRE1 at the reporting cut-off of 1,000 ppm. Note: totals may vary due to rounding
Metallurgical Test Work
The McDermitt flowsheet contemplates beneficiation of mined ore (to upgrade the leach head grade and remove acid consuming gangue minerals) followed by acid leaching and subsequent purification steps to produce battery grade lithium carbonate. The test work has been undertaken at Hazen Research Inc, laboratories in Colorado, US and managed by global engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance company Fluor Corporation (Fluor).
Click here for the Quarterly Cashflow Report - September 2024
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Jindalee Lithium Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Pursuit Minerals Investor Kit
- Corporate info
- Insights
- Growth strategies
- Upcoming projects