Rodinia Lithium says Salar de Diablillos project nears feasibility study

Rodinia Lithium Inc. (CVE:RM) said late Wednesday it expects to release an updated mineral resource estimate in the second or third quarter, as its lithium project advances near a feasibility study.

The company, which owns the Salar de Diablillos lithium-potash brine project in Argentina, said it expects to release the update after the last pump tests are finished.

Through exploration and testing, Rodinia continues to advance the project toward feasibility adding certainty to the resource estimate, brine extraction processes, metallurgical processing as well as recovery.

Rodinia said it received confirmation from Argentina's government that sufficient natural gas supply is available to the company for further development of its lithium carbonite project.

Natural gas supply is anticipated to be a key factor in low cost production of lithium carbonate, the company added.

"Our team has been working extremely hard and progressing the project nicely," Rodinia Lithium president and chief executive Will Randall said.

"The addition of a further drill will ensure timely delivery of an updated resource, pump tests and further hydrogeological characterization of fresh water inflow which are essential components of a feasibility study."

In addition, another drill was mobilized to Diablillos to focus on drilling extra pump test sites further away from its proposed well field.

Rodinia also said wells are planned to test fresh water inflow of the Diablillos river that allow further analysis of the effects of fresh water on brine dilution during production, and to also determine a source of fresh water during production.

Meanwhile, the explorer said pilot process has seen positive results. Evaporation rates during the summer months exceeded expectations, despite a wet season.

A first stage of magnesium and sulphate removal was tested and is awaiting final results. The process engineering department has monitored natural evaporation in both the pools and pans built on site at about 4,050 metres above sea level.

The Salar de Diablillos lithium-bring project in Salta, Argentina holds a recoverable inferred resource of 952.5 million tonnes with a grading of 556 milligrams per litre of lithium and 6,206 milligrams per litre potassium.

Rodinia also owns mineral rights to around 70,000 acres in Nevada’s lithium-rich Clayton Valley in Esmeralda County, which it is presently assessing the size, quality and processing alternatives of the deposit.

The Clayton Valley project rests in the only known lithium-brine bearing salt lake in North America, and looks to represent the only new source for domestic lithium carbonate supply.