Wealth Files NI 43-101 report on Atacama lithium project

Wealth Minerals has filed on SEDAR a NI 43-101 technical report titled NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Atacama Lithium Project El Loa Province Region II Republic of Chile dated March 10, 2017, in connection with the grant to Wealth of an option to acquire a 100% royalty-free interest in and to the ‘Proyecto Atacama Lithium.’

“The Report provides an independent assessment of Wealth’s lithium brine exploration model and comprehensive recommendations for upcoming exploration and project evaluation,” stated Henk van Alphen, Wealth’s CEO. “The Salar de Atacama is the only salar in South America where lithium is recovered using conventional evaporation techniques and it hosts approximately 15% of global lithium resources. We are currently applying for permits to move forward with our exploration plans through the remainder of 2017.”

“The Report outlines the prospective nature of the company’s land position in the Salar de Atacama and the exploration steps necessary to test the model that lithium-bearing brines exist at depth,” explained Tim McCutcheon, the company’s President. “Despite being contiguous with existing production facilities, the northern portion of the salar has never before been explored for lithium brine potential, despite the geology and hydrogeology being similar to producing areas.”

The project consists of 144 exploration concessions comprising 46,200 ha in the Salar de Atacama, 220 km east of the northern Chilean city of Antofagasta. It lies about 30km north of the Soquem Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM) potassium-lithium operation, and about 50 km north of Rockwood Holdings (the Albermarle Corp’s business unit in Chile). Both SQM and Rockwood produce potassium and lithium from brines at depth in the Salar de Atacama.