Standard Lithium Ltd. (TSX-V: SLI) (NYSE American: SLI) (FRA: S5L) says it has successfully located the highest-grade lithium brine in North America.
The company announced Tuesday that samples from its new well in East Texas yielded an average grade of 638 milligrams of lithium per litre, with the highest-grade sample containing 663 milligrams per litre.
“The lithium sample analysis from a newly-drilled well delivered, to the best of our knowledge, a new highest-grade lithium brine concentration in North America and confirmed that we are securing the highest-grade lithium brine resource outside of Chile and Argentina,” said Andy Robinson, President of the company.
Standard Lithium made a similar announcement in March this year when samples from its Texas wells returned up to 634 milligrams per litre with an average of 603 milligrams per litre. The United States Geological Survey describes lithium brine deposits as accumulations of saline groundwater that are enriched in dissolved lithium.
The news also follows the company announcing in May that it had discovered the highest-grade brine in Arkansas, with samples containing up to 581 milligrams per litre. The West Arkansas project Standard Lithium is developing is expected to produce 30,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide annually with an average grade of 437 milligrams per litre.
That project is expected to last for 20 years or more, according to a feasibility study released this summer. Standard Lithium announced that it had acquired a 118-acre land package adjacent to the West Arkansas project last month intended to help advance its development.
The company says higher-grade brines mean lower costs and operating expenses per tonne of the element produced, enhancing a project’s economic viability overall. Standard Lithium says the new samples have grades exceeding other major lithium brine operations in North America more than three-fold.
Standard Lithium stock rose by 7.6 per cent Tuesday to $3.94 on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
Table via Standard Lithium
Lithium South Development Corporation (TSX-V: LIS) (OTCQB: LISMF) (Frankfurt: OGPQ) is another Vancouver-based company that has been actively drilling new lithium wells in recent days.
The company announced that it was fitting three new wells with screen filters and blind casing at its flagship Hombre Muerto North project in Argentina last month. Samples from one of the claim blocks involved in the company’s new drill campaign in the country yielded much higher concentrations of lithium than those recently analyzed in Texas, with an average of 1,176 milligrams per litre.
Days prior to that announcement, Lithium South expanded the brine resource at the project by 175 per cent to 1.58 million tonnes at an average grade of 736 milligrams per litre. The company is in the process of transitioning from exploration to development as a result in the days to come.
Lithium South shares are currently trading for $0.38 on the TSX Venture Exchange.
Lithium South Corporation is a sponsor of Mugglehead news coverage
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