Lake Resources NL (ASX: LKE, OTCQB: LLKKF) is pleased to announce that Maiden Ore Reserves of 950,000 tonnes at a grade of 1.4% total graphitic carbon (“TGC”) have now been defined at the Flagship Kachi Lithium-Brine project in Catamarca, Argentina.
The Maiden Ore Reserve is located within the Salar de Kachi, an 8,700-hectare salar in the Pocitos Department of Catamarca Province and is approximately 29km to the southeast of FMC’s Fenix Lithium Project and 55km to the southwest of Tesla Gigafactory located near Jujuy and Salta provinces.
The Ore Reserve is calculated in accordance with the criteria set out in the Joint Ore Reserves Committee’s (JORC) Code 2012 and the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code).
Furthermore, the Ore Reserve has been estimated using predictor and contour techniques with borehole data, resource averaged grade, volume and density measurements and vacuum leaching experiments.
An increase in the Ore Reserve lift operational and financial performance metrics beyond those expected from the maiden reserve. Max Stackhouse, Managing Director commented: “With Ore Reserves now defined at the Flagship Kachi Lithium-Brine project we have adopted the usual next step, which is to continue to optimise the mine plan and engineering from the initial concept works underway. Pending these optimisations are the degree of the resources that can be economically extracted from the ore reserve and will determine the finanical performance of the project now and into the future.
Lake Resources NL’s Kachi Lithium-Brine project is located in Catamarca, Argentina, and is the most advanced in terms of resources and mineralogy out of the projects currently available for lithium production in the region. The Ore Reserve has been estimated following extensive sampling, lab analyses, vacuum leaching and concept engineering works. The Maiden Ore Reserve of 950,000 tonnes at a grade of 1.4% TGC defines the ore body as substantial and forms a critical milestone in the continuing development of the project. It is now expected that Lake Resources will continue to optimise the mine plan and engineering works of the project with the intention of maximising financial performance both in the short and long term.