Lithium One Completes Resource Drilling at the Sal de Vida Lithium and Potash Project, Argentina
Highlights- Averaged Lithium and Potash grades are approximately 10% higher than those of the NI 43-101 resource previously announced
- Brine chemistry remains consistent with favourably low magnesium and sulphate concentrations
- New drill results will contribute to a reclassification and expansion of the resource in a new resource estimate.
VANCOUVER, CANADA -- (Marketwire) -- 01/19/12 -- Lithium One Inc. (the 'Company') (TSX VENTURE: LI), is pleased to announce completion of the resource drilling phase for the Sal de Vida lithium and potash project at Salar del Hombre Muerto, Argentina (the 'Project'). The final drilling results reported in Table 1 support the previous results in regards to favourable grade and chemistry and will be incorporated into an updated NI 43-101 resource statement to be announced shortly.
The final six core holes complete a 28-hole, 3,255m program of drilling. Holes were drilled at an average 2.5km grid spacing and provided solid samples for direct porosity measurements and depth-specific brine samples for chemical analysis. In addition the Company drilled nineteen mud-rotary holes (totalling 1,932m), one of which is being used as the source of brine for the pilot evaporation ponds and plant and thirteen for short-term pumping test wells together with two reverse-circulation drill holes to fill in the sampling grid.
This final drill campaign identified brine with lithium (Li) grades of between 295-1,199 milligrams per liter (mg/L) and potassium (K) grades in the range of 3,249-13,680 mg/L. The averaged grades of the newly identified brine are 768 mg/L Li and 8,302 mg/L K, approximately 10% higher than the grades of the reported inferred resource. The chemistry of the brine also continues to be very favourable; the magnesium to lithium (Mg: Li) ratio averages 2.58 and the sulphate to lithium (SO4:Li) ratio averages 10.80. Given the consistent chemistry and higher grades within the existing resource area, these drill holes are expected to improve the overall resource grade.
Lithium One CEO and Founder, Paul Matysek commented, 'The Sal de Vida lithium and potash resource continues to yield consistent, high-grade, brine with favourable chemistry. Not only have we expanded the footprint of the resource in recent months, but we have drilled higher grades. We expect to upgrade the resource to include a NI 43101 compliant measured and indicated resource and a larger global resource shortly.'
Table 1: Summary of Drill Results from Sal de Vida Project, Argentina
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
Sample
Inter- Total Hole
Hole no. vals Start End Interval Depth Li K Mg:Li SO4:Li
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(m) (m) (m) (m) (mg/l) (mg/l)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAIN BASIN
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SVH11_23 16 12.89 113.1 100.92 113.10 Mean 792 9419 2.47 12.02
Max 1003 11420
Min 334 4336
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SVH11_24 24 52.16 194.54 142.38 195.45 Mean 768 6942 2.05 11.22
Max 908 8295
Min 493 4157
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SVH11_25 16 59.72 155.77 96.05 155.77 Mean 709 7901 3.15 11.15
Max 868 10025
Min 295 3249
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SVH11_26 18 32.29 139.09 106.8 139.09 Mean 820 9207 2.99 11.30
Max 1199 13680
Min 470 5684
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SVH11_27 5 65.94 136.38 70.44 137.31 Mean 803 9376 2.75 8.26
Max 856 9980
Min 644 7508
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SVH11_28 5 41.58 79.77 38.19 95.62 Mean 658 7944 2.01 9.65
Max 800 9351
Min 585 7413
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Central basin core holes 23-28 average
chemistry n=84 768 8302 2.58 10.80
The recent drilling maintained the pattern of sampling core for porosity determinations at 10m intervals, varying slightly depending on drilling conditions. The porosity results for this latest drilling reinforce the patterns seen throughout the drill program. The effective porosity varies throughout the section, but is controlled by the dominant lithology. The sandy units are consistently porous and sometimes contain coarse-grained intervals that yield very high porosity. The halite is less porous but contains fractures and dissolution zones with enhanced porosity.
The halite zone is found in only two of these most recent holes. The buried halite of Hombre Muerto typically has a low drainable porosity, but occasional fracture or dissolution zones yield high brine flow. In hole SVH11_26, drainable porosities in the halite range from 2.6 - 10.2 percent, with one zone at 20.2 percent. Likewise, in core hole SVH11_23, one test in the halite yielded 5.8 percent with another at 23.7 percent drainable porosity.
The lower, sand-dominated section is typically more variable as demonstrated in the following table. In general, Company geologists have noted high porosity zones at the lower halite - sand interface and in porous carbonate (travertine) zones lower in the section. The host aquifers appear to extend below the section sampled by drilling, so the resource is primarily limited at depth by data collection. See the NI 43-101 technical reports on the company website or on SEDAR for further discussion of porosity throughout the Sal de Vida resource.
Table 2: Porosities for the sand-dominated unit
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hole no. Drainable porosities Average
From (%) To (%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SVH11_23 18.4 27.1 24.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SVH11_24 2.7 27.7 9.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SVH11_25 2.8 23.4 8.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SVH11_26 1.1 14.3 8.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SVH11_27 2.3 5.3 4.7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SVH11_28 4.8 28.6 12.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The liquid samples from Sal de Vida have been analyzed by Alex Stewart Assayers of Mendoza, Argentina by dilution and direct aspiration atomic absorption. Alex Stewart's Mendoza lab is accredited to ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 for its geochemical and environmental labs for the preparation and analysis of different sample media, including waters and brines.
The porosity determinations were made by Core Laboratories of Houston, Texas. Core Laboratories has demonstrated that its Quality Management System is in compliance with certification to ISO 9000:2008 for providing state of the art petrophysical and geological analysis and interpretation of core samples from rock.
The Company maintains a systematic quality control program including the use of standards, blanks, duplicates, and an independent check laboratory. The performance of the quality control samples associated with these data indicates acceptable analytical quality. Please refer to the NI 43-101 Technical Report, which is filed on SEDAR and available on the Company's website, for further discussion of sample methodology, detailed quality control procedures and other information regarding the project.
Review by Qualified Person
The contents of this news release, analytical data, and quality control procedures have been reviewed and approved by Mr. Michael Rosko of Montgomery & Associates Water Resource Consultants (M&A). Mr. Rosko is a Registered Geologist in Arizona, California, and Texas and a qualified person (QP) as defined in NI 43-101. Mr. Rosko and M&A are completely independent of Lithium One, owning no securities of any kind in the Company.
About Lithium One:
Lithium One Inc. is well positioned to be a next-generation low cost producer of lithium and potash. The Company has two major projects advancing to feasibility in 2012: the Sal de Vida lithium and potash brine project in Argentina and the James Bay bulk tonnage spodumene project in Quebec. The October 2011 preliminary economic assessment by ARA Worley Parsons for the Sal de Vida project outlined an operation producing 25,000 tonnes pa lithium carbonate and 107,000 tonnes pa potash, with a 28% internal rate of return ('IRR') and a US$1.066 billion net present value ('NPV') at an 8% discount rate. End-user partners are earning a maximum 30% project equity in Sal de Vida by funding $15M towards feasibility, providing an off-take agreement for up to 50% of the lithium production, and providing a completion guarantee for the debt component of the capital development costs. Galaxy Resources is earning a maximum 70% project equity in the James Bay Project through an earn-in agreement that includes delivery of a feasibility study by early 2013. The Company's strategy is to draw upon its quality team and employ best practice to develop its projects into leading suppliers of low-cost, high quality lithium products to the global market.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS,
Paul Matysek, Chief Executive Officer
Forward-Looking Statements
This document may contain 'forward-looking information' within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation (hereinafter referred to as 'forward-looking statements'). All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation statements relating to the Preliminary Economic Assessment, estimated capital and operating costs, productions rates, cash flows, rates of return, mine life or mineral resources, securing of debt for future project construction, purchase of future mine production, the timing for completion of an NI 43-101 resource and other matters related to the exploration and development of the Project, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document and the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's expectations or beliefs regarding future events. By their very nature forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include unsuccessful exploration results, changes in metals prices, changes in the availability of funding for mineral exploration, unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general economic conditions, title disputes as well as those factors detailed from time to time in the Company's interim and annual financial statements and management's discussion and analysis of those statements, all of which are filed and available for review on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as 'plans', 'expects' or 'does not expect', 'is expected', 'budget', 'scheduled', 'estimates', 'forecasts', 'intends', 'anticipates' or 'does not anticipate', or 'believes', or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results 'may', 'could', 'would', 'might' or 'will be taken', 'occur' or 'be achieved' or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking statements.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Lithium One Inc.
1010-130 Adelaide Street West,
Toronto, ON M5H 3P5 Canada
416-361-2832
info@lithium1.com
www.lithium1.com