Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp. Seeking to Advance Rio Tinto-Adjacent Project to Production Amidst Lithium Crunch

There’s little need to emphasize just how critical lithium is to the success of Electric Vehicles (EVs) and the broader battery market right now. With no viable alternative battery technologies currently available, running out of lithium would quite literally bring entire industries to a halt.

Unfortunately, such a situation could become a reality if new lithium mining projects aren’t brought online soon. Indeed, with EVs already accounting for over 10% of global car sales in 2021 (see the Internation Energy Agency’s 2022 EV Outlook), lithium prices have skyrocketed by over 500% since July last year as global supplies come under pressure.

This is bringing a lot of attention to the world’s junior miners prospecting in this space, particularly those operating in the so-called Lithium Triangle, such as Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp. (TSXV: LIT | FSE: OAY3 | OTC: PNXLF). This attention means those with promising projects stand to gain significant windfalls should their projects prove sufficiently resource-rich and economically viable to lure in a major like Rio Tinto.

As for what a promising project actually looks like, today we have a Market One Minute interview with Argentina Lithium’s president and CEO, Niko Cacos. In the interview, we will learn about the promising Rio Tinto-adjacent Rincon West Project, which has recently returned high-grade drill results.

Jim Gordon: Hi, I’m Jim Gordon. You’re watching Market One Minute. Joining us is Niko Cacos,

president, CEO, and director of Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp. Welcome.

Niko Cacos: Pleasure to be here.

Jim Gordon: Good to have you, sir. Okay, tell us about the drill program the company recently conducted on its Rincon West Project.

Niko Cacos: Yes, this is our flagship project right now, and the reason it’s our flagship project is because it’s situated on the same salt brine where Rio Tinto recently purchased a very large position with a very large resource for over US$800 million. So this makes this project very exciting for us, as our project is completely adjacent with theirs. 

We’ve recently announced a five-hole drill program, and just about a month ago we announced the results of one of those holes, and the results that we’re getting are very much in line with the results that Rio Tinto has been publishing. So, very exciting. If we continue to get these kinds of results on this project, I think we’re going to really be off to the races here.

Jim Gordon: Leads me into my next question. Based on the positive results, what are the next steps for Argentina Lithium?

Niko Cacos: Well, our next steps are to continue drilling here, the program at Rincon West. And we’ve got three additional projects in three different salars, or salt lakes, as we’re known here. And we’ve outlined the drill program for each one of these projects. And geophysics is to precede each one. So we’re going address these in a methodical manner.

And then with Rincon West, where we’re drilling right now, if we do get the results that we expect that we can get, we’re going to move it towards a resource calculation, and then push towards completing a preliminary economic assessment, or a PEA.

Jim Gordon: And Niko, tell our viewers about the lithium energy sector in Argentina.

Niko Cacos: Well, first of all, lithium is becoming harder and harder to come by. Just the global demand has been driving lithium prices and making finding lithium very scarce. But one of the most prospective regions to find lithium comes from what’s known as the Lithium Triangle, that encompasses the southern portion of Bolivia, eastern portion of Chile, and a significant portion of Northwestern Argentina. 

Now, within this Lithium Triangle, nearly 60 percent of the known lithium reserves come from there. But the Argentine portion of that triangle is very, very much underdeveloped, and that represents opportunity. That’s where companies like our company can come in with our 30-year track record of experience in making discoveries in countries like Argentina. I think we’re extremely well situated to capitalize and make some of these lithium discoveries.

Jim Gordon: Finally, when is Argentina Lithium expected to complete its pre-feasibility study?

Niko Cacos: Well, there’s a bunch of work that needs to be completed prior to that. We’re going to complete our drill program with some good results. We would move into doing a resource calculation, that would probably take us into early next year. Following that, we would do a preliminary economic assessment, a PEA. Give us a very rough estimate and understanding of the economics of our lithium deposit. And beyond that, probably within about a year, we’ll be in a position to execute a pre-feasibility study.

Jim Gordon: Niko, thanks for joining us.

Niko Cacos: My pleasure.

ABOUT ARGENTINA LITHIUM CORP.:  

Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp. (TSXV: LIT | FSE: OAY3 | OTC: PNXLF) is focused on acquiring high quality lithium projects in Argentina and advancing them towards production in order to meet the growing global demand from the battery sector.

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(Featured image courtesy of Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp.)

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