Mining Technology

Daily Newsletter

09 August 2023

Daily Newsletter

Galan obtains phase one permits for Argentinian lithium brine project

The company is planning to start lithium chloride production at the HMW project in the first half of 2025.

Galan Lithium (GLN) has secured permits for the phase one construction of the proposed lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) production plant at its Hombre Muerto West (HMW) lithium brine project in Argentina.

The project will have a 5.4 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) production capacity.

Issued by the Catamarca Ministro – Ministerio de Mineria (Mines Department Minister), the permits allows the company to commence full construction of the lithium project.

The company says that the permits comprise ponds, a plant, an on-site laboratory, a 200-man camp, power and other necessary infrastructure.

Furthermore, the authority has approved six additional production wells at the lithium brine project.

GLN said the definitive feasibility study (DFS) at the HMW project is divided into two phases with phase one focused on lithium chloride concentrate production as governed by the production permits.

Phase one of the DFS delivered an annual production rate of 5,367 recoverable tonnes of LCE contained in a concentrated lithium chloride product.

GLN plans to begin lithium chloride production at the Hombre Muerto West project in the first half of 2025.

GLN managing director Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega said: “The permits cover the full phase one DFS production rate of 5.4ktpa LCE, including full spec ponds design and size, plus the carbonate plant using the lithium concentration feed from the existing ponds already built.

“All required infrastructure is also approved, which means it is all systems go to meet our production target in H1 2025. The Galan team, from top to bottom, has been simply outstanding and this is the most significant milestone in the relatively short history of the HMW Project.”

The company is planning to release the phase two DFS of the project in September 2023. It will address a full 20ktpa LCE production rate.

ESG 2.0 marks a shift towards stricter environmental rules

ESG is moving into a different era, which we call ESG 2.0. While ESG 1.0 was driven by voluntary corporate action, spurred by pressure from activist consumers and investors, ESG 2.0 is being driven by a new wave of government policies. The EU has taken the regulatory lead, with rules introduced or in the pipeline that will price emissions, regulate the use of the terms ‘ESG’ and ‘sustainability’ in marketing materials, and make ESG reporting mandatory. The US has taken a different approach, favoring less regulation and more financial support in the form of tax breaks for clean industry (renewables plus nuclear and hydrogen). China is planning to expand its emissions trading system to more sectors, decarbonize its heavy industry, and ramp up its use of renewables. The new policy direction is mainly motivated by the ambition to hit net zero emissions targets. But on top of this, governments are now competing for clean industry and trying to challenge China’s leadership on the production of the world’s green technologies such as solar panels and batteries, as well as the production and refinement of materials needed for energy transition such as lithium. These driving forces are leading to policy that will impact every sector, not just heavy industry, and will keep ESG near the top of the regulatory agenda over the longer term.