LEXI Announces Drilling Is Now Underway in Its Triangle Joint Venture
Toronto, June 21, 2022 - Lithium Energi Exploration Inc. (TSXV: LEXI) (the "Company" or "LEXI") is pleased to announce that its new joint venture, Triangle Lithium Argentina, S.A. ("Trila" or the "JV"), kicked off its much-anticipated drilling campaign (the "Campaign") by spudding its first well on June 16, 2022 and drilling is now underway.
The JV's Campaign contractor, Dorado Exploraciones y Servicios is a mining services contractor owned by the former Secretary of Mines for Catamarca Province, Rodolfo Micone. Dorado has engaged a group of best-in-class subcontractors for the Campaign, including Hidrotec, SRL, the most experienced salar drilling company in Argentina.
This new well, the "Trila 1", is the first of six wells planned for the Campaign that includes 2,400 total meters of drilling in six "diamantinas" (narrow diameter, core holes drilled with diamond drill bits to obtain and extract physical cores samples). Average total depth ("TD") is projected at 400 meters for each well. However, deeper horizons may also be explored. The core samples obtained from these diamantinas will reveal porosity, permeability, and chemical analysis critical for development planning and mine valuation. Core samples are planned for analysis at Geosystems Analysis, Inc. in Tucson, Arizona, one of the foremost analytical laboratories in the world for analyzing lithium brine core samples.
After reaching TD, packer tests will be conducted from bottom hole up to surface to obtain quantities of "salmuera" (Spanish for the lithium-bearing, hypersaline brine). Brine sample analysis will be conducted at Alex Stewart Laboratories to yield full spectroscopic analysis of brine chemistry and lithium concentrations.
The Antofalla basin is a long, narrow, fault-controlled graben - identified as one of the world's largest entrapment basins hosting lithium-bearing brine - and its total depth is not well known. Although results from adjacent explorers cannot and do not assure the outcome of Trila's present drilling Campaign, published data on wells drilled by other companies at or near the Antofalla Salar report subsurface brine with lithium content of economic importance.
Trila has engaged a highly experienced team to plan, execute, and analyze the Campaign, including qualified persons ("QP") to govern the sampling and testing protocols. QP Murray Brooker, a well-known professional with many years of hands-on salar drilling knowledge in Argentina, has designed all sample collection and testing protocols for the Campaign. The JV has also engaged a team of geologists and highly skilled technicians responsible for 24-7 oversight at each well site during the Campaign. Trila and LEXI's Argentina subsidiary, Lithium Energi Argentina, S.A. ("LEA") may elect to expand the Campaign to include multiple rotary wells. These rotaries are larger diameter wells suited for implementing long-term pumping tests requisite for determining draw down and recharge rates related to brine extraction from the subsurface aquifers. Based on core samples and pump test results, the Campaign is expected to conclude with publication of an NI 43-101 resource estimate, which the Company believes could be ready for publication in early 2023.
LEXI's CEO, Steven Howard, said: "We were humbly excited to have had local "original peoples" from the village of Antofalla join us to share a Pachamama (mother earth) celebration and blessing, as they watched our team spud this first well. That blessing and this first well now change the paradigm for LEXI. We expect that this Campaign will affirm LEXI's assets and its vision for growing shareholder value, coinciding with the robust rollout of electric vehicles on the international stage."
Trila's CEO, Ali Rahman, noted: "We're thrilled that drilling is now underway and applaud the perseverance of Dorado and LEXI's team to get this Campaign launched in the Andean winter. Trila and its 80% owner, Triangle Lithium, LLC, have committed our capital and global network to prove-up the value of these world class assets. We firmly believe that we're in the right spot at the right time and that our Argentina team will lead us to exciting announcements in the coming months. The world urgently needs this commodity and we'll be producing it just when its needed the most."
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Murray Booker, P. Geo., a consultant of the Company, and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
About Triangle Lithium Argentina, S.A. Triangle Lithium Argentina, S.A. is an Argentine corporation owned by LEA and Triangle Lithium, LLC ("Triangle"). Triangle is a Delaware limited liability company formed by Sorcia Minerals, LLC and an affiliate of Global Oil Management Group, LLC, a resource development holding company controlled by Harry Sargeant, III, a billionaire investor focused principally in the diversified energy and shipping industries, which operates an expansive, multibillion-dollar conglomerate of private global enterprises consisting of aviation companies, oil refineries, oil trading operations, alternative fuels development, alternative energy development, and oil and asphalt shipping.
About Lithium Energi Exploration, Inc. Lithium Energi Exploration Inc. is an exploration company focused on acquisition, exploration, and development of lithium brine assets in Argentina. The Company is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario and has offices in Dallas, Texas and Catamarca, Argentina. The Company's shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: LEXI) and the Frankfurt Exchange (FSE: LO9). The Company's portfolio of prospective lithium brine concessions in the Argentina Province of Catamarca (heart of the lithium triangle) includes approximately 57,000 hectares and a 20% interest in the Trila JV, which owns an additional 15,000 hectares - all located in and around the Antofalla Salar, one of the largest basins in the region, which is over 130 km long and up to 20 km across. Albemarle Corporation, the world's largest lithium producer, owns exclusive exploration and acquisition rights to large claim blocks located throughout the Antofalla Salar. With prospective lithium properties located just west of Livent's producing properties and offset to the north and south of Albemarle's concessions, LEXI believes that its claim package holds the potential to deliver impressive values to its shareholders, if the economic viability and technical feasibility of the properties are established and developed.
For more information about Lithium Energi Exploration, Inc., please view the Company's filings at www.SEDAR.com.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
"Chris Hobbs"
________________________
Chris Hobbs,
Chief Financial Officer and Director
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Lithium Energi Exploration Inc.
Tel: 416 276-6689
Email: chris.hobbs@lithiumenergi.com
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