ASX-listed mineral resources company Anson Resources has closed the purchase of a privately owned, strategic land package near its Green River lithium project in the Paradox Basin in Utah, US.

Anson entered a letter of intent (LOI) for acquiring 56.8 hectares (0.568km²) of land with Boysdaba earlier this year. It has now completed all the requirements of the LOI and has paid $2.4m (A$3.75m) to purchase the land package.

The acquisition is claimed to be a pivotal addition to its Green River project area. The land is expected to be used as a location for a future extraction and production facility for a proposed lithium-producing operation at the project.

The land package comprises 1,265 Bureau of Land Management placer claims. It is surrounded by essential infrastructure, which offers substantial time and cost savings during the future development requirement.

Anson has also started design and engineering studies at the site. These include an electrical engineering study, a geotechnical survey generated drilling programme for building foundations, potable water supply and engineering design for extraction of water from Green River, which is next to the purchased land.

In addition, the company is preparing other applications such as a conditional use permit to develop infrastructure and construction of a processing plant. Work on the preparation of applications for other required licences has also begun.

Anson Resources chairman and CEO Bruce Richardson said: “We are excited about the potential to develop a lithium extraction and processing plant at the newly acquired site at Green River. Private, industrial-use land is difficult to secure in eastern Utah, as the approval process for privately owned land is significantly less onerous.

“We consider the existing infrastructure that surrounds this area to be world-class, potentially reducing the work and costs required to develop the project into production.

“In addition, we have received strong government support for the development of the Green River Project from all levels of government, including the local State representative, County representatives and Green River Council representative.”