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Summit Nanotech to tap lithium in Chile's Llamara salt flat via new JV

Bnamericas
Summit Nanotech to tap lithium in Chile's Llamara salt flat via new JV

Canadian firm Summit Nanotech and Chile's Llamara Group have signed a joint venture agreement to develop the Llamara project in the salt flat of the same name in northern Chile.

This is the Calgary-based company's third joint venture in Chile, with a focus on expanding its business in the lithium sector. It has also made expressions of interest with its joint venture partners in the calls made by the Chilean State to attract private sector partners.

Under the national lithium strategy, "we're interested in producing economical and environmentally friendly lithium," Amanda Hall, CEO of Summit Nanotech, told BNamericas. The firm owns a patented direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology called denaLi.  

Llamara comprises a total of 51,300ha, but in principle the joint venture with Llamara Group will be based on an area of 4,000ha, whose "results of transient electromagnetic (TEM) geophysical studies and drilling data suggest indicated and inferred resources for more than 1.18Mt of lithium carbonate equivalent," Hall said.

"Surface sampling measurements of over 951ppm Li illustrate that there could be high concentrations of lithium in the producing formation at depth (>200ppm). Summit will be conducting additional drilling to delineate the reservoir and test the brine with their technology. We will gather this information to evaluate the possibility of increasing the JV rights by 6,000 more hectares," she added.

According to Hall, the DLE technology will allow sustainable production and greater water recovery in the aquifer in the middle of the Atacama desert, just 850m above sea level and 45km from the coast. 

The location, on the border of the Antofagasta and Tarapacá regions, is strategic not only due to its resources but also because of "its proximity to roads, public services and its high solar radiation, which makes the use of renewable energy tangible and operations optimal," said the executive.

The Llamara project began in 2021 under the leadership of Llamara Group, a consortium formed by local mining companies and professionals, who projected production of 60,000t/y of lithium carbonate equivalent through a low-carbon footprint operation, supplied only with clean energy and non-desalinated seawater.

Through a circular economy model, Llamara would even generate photocatalytic green hydrogen using local minerals, Llamara Group states on its website.

Other agreements

Summit Nanotech has another joint venture with Chilean firm Cobax Mining, belonging to the British company Lithium Sciences, whose mission is to structure a lithium project in the Salar de la Isla in Atacama region.

Hall said they are exploring and structuring the planning strategy together with the surrounding communities. 

The executive said that the details of its third joint venture in the country are confidential.


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