American Salars Lithium has sealed an agreement to gain full ownership of the Pocitos 1 Lithium Salar Project in Salta, Argentina, from Recharge Resources (vendor).

The project, which spans 800 hectares, has an inferred resource estimate of 760,000t of LCE as per the NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate prepared in December 2023.

The inferred resources are located in the Pocitos 1 block, where all drilling activities have been conducted.

This acquisition includes the assumption of the vendor's tax liability, capped at $250,000, and a payment to WSP for the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE), amounting to A$80,000 ($52,936).

Under the deal, American Salars will issue five million common shares to the vendor, subject to a 24-month escrow period with staggered release terms.

The vendor has also agreed to limit its share sales and to proxy all voting rights to the management of American Salars.

At the deal's closure, the vendor will receive 2.5 million bonus warrants, each allowing the purchase of one common share at C$0.75, provided the Pocitos 1 property's resources reach a combined measured, indicated and inferred total of one million tonnes of LCE.

The Pocitos 1 property is subject to a 2.5% net smelter royalty on the minerals produced, of which American Salars has the option to buy back 1.5% for C$1.5m ($1.09m).

The completion of this transaction is contingent upon a finder's fee.

American Salars plans to initiate a new drilling and production well programme once the necessary permits are secured from the Salta Mines Department.

American Salars Lithium director and CEO Nick Horsley said: “We are excited to add the Pocitos 1 lithium salar project to our Argentina lithium portfolio.

“We now control both the Candela II lithium salar project with an inferred LCE of 457,000t and the Pocitos 1 project, which in combination with its neighbouring Pocitos 2 block, hosts 760,000t LCE.

“We look forward to working with our technical team to update the NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate to reflect our Pocitos 1 concession, which represents approximately 60% of the combined ground used in the existing mineral resource estimate and hosts all of the drilling to date.”

Meanwhile, Recharge Resources will now focus on its North American projects including the Brussels Creek Gold project in British Columbia and the Georgia Lake Lithium Project in Ontario.