Galan Lithium has begun stage two drilling its Candelas lithium brine project in Argentina with a maiden resource targeted for third quarter 2019.
The stock climbed as much as 8% or 2c to an intraday high of 26c on Thursday on the news.
Permits for six new drill holes at Candelas have now been received, focusing on the northern section of the project.
The granting of permits comes after Galan’s recent maiden five drill program at Candelas which included hits of 192 metres at 802 mg/l Li and 143 metres at 784 mg/l Li.
Galan has now completed its fifth hole in the maiden program to a depth of 380m with downhole geophysics and packer testing confirming a heavy brine horizon over 140m from 240m to 380m.
Brine samples recorded high specific gravity readings and conductivities in excess of the capacity of the field instruments (being 200 mS/cm). Samples have been sent to the laboratory for analyses.
Drilling of the sixth hole – to be located 1.5km southeast of the fifth hole – will begin immediately.
Hombre Muerto is proven to host the highest grade and lowest impurity levels within Argentina and is home to Livent Corporation’s El Fenix operation and Galaxy Resources and POSCO’s Sal de Vida projects.
Galan’s primary target is the adjoining Candelas channel target, a ~15km long by 3 – 5km wide valley filled channel, with recent geophysics and drilling indicating the potential to host a substantial volume of brine.
