TIDMGSCU
RNS Number : 7843R
Great Southern Copper PLC
31 October 2023
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED
UNDER THE UK VERSION OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION NO 596/2014
WHICH IS PART OF ENGLISH LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN (WITHDRAWAL)
ACT 2018, AS AMED. ON PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A
REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS INFORMATION IS CONSIDERED TO
BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
31 October 2023
Great Southern Copper plc
("GSC" or the "Company")
Monti Lithium Project Grows by 40% with New Concession
Filing
GSC expands its footprint to 33,100 ha in the prolific Salar de
Atacama district, Chile
Great Southern Copper plc (LSE: GSCU), the company focused on
copper-gold and lithium exploration in Chile, is pleased to
announce that it has consolidated its concession area in the Salar
de Atacama district of Chile, which hosts the world's largest
reserves of lithium.
Highlights:
-- New exploration concession filings increase Monti Lithium Project to 33,100 ha
-- Salar de Atacama is Chile's largest Lithium brine producing district
-- Located in the prolific "Lithium Triangle" of Chile-Argentina-Bolivia
-- Excellent infrastructure in place
-- GSC's concessions located near to Chile's largest lithium producers
-- Chile is the world's second largest producer of lithium
Next steps:
-- Over the coming months, GSC will conduct due diligence on the
project and prepare plans for its exploration programmes
-- Work will include reconnaissance field trips to undertake
surface sampling and mapping programmes
Sam Garrett, Chief Executive Officer of Great Southern Copper,
said: "We have moved quickly to expand the Company's position
within this significant lithium-producing jurisdiction. Our
applications have strategically targeted areas where we believe the
potential for lithium-rich brine fluid-flow into the Salar de
Atacama basin is enhanced by large-scale geological structures.
"The Salar de Atacama is a Tier 1 lithium producing region and
our concessions are located near to the largest lithium producers
in Chile, underscoring the great potential of this project. We look
forward to advancing our exploration efforts at Monti and updating
the market on our progress.
"Chile is the largest producer of copper and the second-largest
producer of lithium globally. The two metals are critically
important in the global drive for a green-energy future and as such
we believe the new Monti Lithium Project is a perfect compliment to
our two copper projects in Chile."
Monti Lithium Project:
On 20 September 2023, GSC announced that it had executed an
Option Agreement allowing the Company to earn 100% of the Monti
Lithium Project in Chile(1) comprising 81 exploration concessions
covering a total area of 23,500 ha (235 km(2) ) located in the
Salar de Atacama district, Chile's largest lithium-brine production
region.
The Company has since filed a further 33 exploration concessions
bringing the total project area to 33,100 ha (331 km(2) )
representing a 40% increase in the project area (Figure 1). Further
to these new filings preliminary reconnaissance exploration of the
Monti Lithium Project may commence.
The Salar de Atacama basin comprises an extensional depression
controlled by first-order normal faulting(2) within a more
extensive N-S trending Preandean rift system. The geometry of the
basin is interpreted to have resulted from to the interaction of
crustal-scale, N-S trending, normal faults and conjugate northeast
and southeast-trending structures. The same structural trends also
appear significant for the control on emplacement of porphyry
copper deposits - e.g., Chuquicumata, Spence, Gabi, Escondida -
located within the Preandean Cordillera de Domeyko volcanic domain
west of the depressional divide. GSC has aimed to strategically
locate its exploration concessions coincident with interpreted
major structures and basinal in-flow zones (Figure 2).
The Salar de Atacama is a Tier 1 lithium production region with
estimated pre-mine resources greater than 6.0 Mt Li(3) . Lithium is
hosted in subterranean brine solutions which are pumped to the
surface, where the lithium is extracted via evaporation processes
producing a lithium carbonate (LiCO(3) ) concentrate product. By
products of the lithium concentration process include potassium
chloride and potassium sulphate, which are used to manufacture
fertilizer materials(4) , and bromine products(5)
Lithium production in Chile:
Chile is currently the world's second largest producer of
lithium after Australia(6) . Unlike Australia where lithium is
recovered from spodumene-rich pegmatites, lithium in Chile is
recovered from salt brine solutions located within and beneath
high-altitude geographic depressions known as "salars" or salt
lakes. In the Andean region of South America, lithium-rich salars
occur in Bolivia, Argentina and Chile within a region known as "the
Lithium Triangle". Total reserves and resources of lithium
calculated in Chile are estimated at 14.3 Mt Li(7) with the Salar
de Atacama being the largest lithium producing salar.
The Chilean government recognises the strategic importance of
lithium to the country's economy and has recently moved to
implement a new production model whereby companies wishing to
extract and produce lithium are required to enter into contracts
(CEOLs) with the State, negotiating with government companies
Codelco or ENAMI(8) . Codelco is Chile's state-owned copper mining
company and is one of the largest copper producers globally. ENAMI
is also a state-owned copper and gold-silver processing company
mandated to purchase and process ores from medium and small-scale
copper and gold miners across Chile. Improvements in extraction
technologies are also incorporated in the new model to address
environmental concerns relating to the impact of evaporation
processing on existing water tables beneath the salars.
Enaction of the new model for lithium production in Chile has
been demonstrated recently with the announcement of Codelco
purchasing 100% of the listed share capital of ASX-listed Lithium
Power International (ASX:LPI)(9) .
References:
1. RNS 9894M (20 Sept 2023): GSC secures Monti Lithium project in Chile.
2. Rubilar et. al., (2018): Structure of the Cordillera de la
Sal: A key tectonic element for the Oligocene-Neocene evolution of
the Salar de Atacama basin, Central Andes, northern Chile. Journal
of South American Earth Sciences v87, pg 200-210.
3. Sykes (2019): A global overview of the geology and economics
of lithium production. AusIMM lithium conference.
4. SQM website: https://www.sqm.com/en/acerca-de-sqm/informacion-corporativa/nuestras-faenas/
5. Albemarle website: https://www.albemarle.com/offerings/bromine-specialties/resources?_ga=2.132203213.296506098.1698041131-1851235868.1698041131
6. U.S. Geological Survey (2023): Mineral commodity summaries.
7. Cabello (2021): Lithium brine production, reserves, resources
and exploration in Chile: An updated review. Ore Geology Reviews,
v128.
8. Quinzio (2022): Gobernanza y marco legal para la exploitacion del litio en Chile.
9. ASX release (18 Oct 2023): LPI enters into binding scheme implementation deed with Codelco.
Enquiries:
Great Southern Copper plc
Sam Garrett, Chief Executive Officer +44 (0) 20 4582 3500
---------------------
SI Capital Limited
---------------------
Nick Emerson +44 (0) 1483 413500
---------------------
Gracechurch Group
---------------------
Harry Chathli, Alexis Gore, Henry
Gamble +44 (0) 20 4582 3500
---------------------
Figure 1: Location map of Monti Lithium Project exploration
concessions with new concessions highlighted in red (Google image).
UTM19S WGS84.
Figure 2: Location of GSC lithium concessions in relation to
interpreted geological summary and porphyry Cu deposits (green
stars). UTM 19S WGS84.
Notes for Editors:
About Great Southern Copper
Great Southern Copper PLC is a UK-listed mineral exploration
company focused on the discovery of copper-gold and lithium
deposits in Chile. The Company has the option to acquire rights to
100% of two projects in the under-explored coastal belt of Chile
that are prospective for large scale copper-gold deposits. In
addition, the Company has the option to acquire rights to 100% of a
lithium project located in the Salar de Atacama district of Chile.
Chile is a globally significant mining jurisdiction being the
world's largest copper producer and the second-largest producer of
lithium.
The two, early-stage Cu-Au projects comprise the San Lorenzo and
Especularita Projects, both located in the coastal metallogenic
belt of Chile which hosts significant copper mines and deposits,
including Teck's Carmen de Andacollo copper mine, and boasts
excellent access to infrastructure such as roads, power and ports.
Significant historical small-scale and artisanal workings for both
copper and gold are readily evident in both exploration project
areas. The Company's Monti Lithium project is strategically located
in the pre-Andean region of Salar de Atacama which is Chile's
premier lithium-producing region with well-established lithium
mining operations and infrastructure.
Great Southern Copper is strategically positioned to support the
global market for copper and lithium - both critical battery metals
in the clean energy transition around the world. The Company is
actively engaged in exploration and evaluation work programmes
targeting both large tonnage, low to medium grade Cu-Au and Li
deposits as well as high-grade Cu-Au deposits.
Further information on the Company is available on the Company's
website: https://gscplc.com
Forward Looking and Cautionary Statements
Some statements in this announcement regarding estimates or
future events are forward-looking statements. They include
indications of, and guidance on, future earnings, cash flow, costs
and financial performance. Forward-looking statements include, but
are not limited to, statements preceded by words such as "planned",
"expected", "projected", "estimated", "may", "scheduled",
"intends", "anticipates", "believes", "potential", "predict",
"foresee", "proposed", "aim", "target", "opportunity", "could",
"nominal", "conceptual" and similar expressions. Forward-looking
statements, opinions and estimates included in this report are
based on assumptions and contingencies which are subject to change
without notice, as are statements about market and industry trends,
which are based on interpretations of current market conditions.
Forward-looking statements are provided as a general guide only and
should not be relied on as a guarantee of future performance.
Forward-looking statements may be affected by a range of variables
that could cause actual results to differ from estimated or
anticipated results and may cause the Company's actual performance
and financial results in future periods to materially differ from
any projections of future performance or results expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. So, there can be no
assurance that actual outcomes will not materially differ from
these forward-looking statements.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
UPDEAAEEDLNDFAA
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 31, 2023 03:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
Great Southern Copper (LSE:GSCU)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Ago 2024 a Sep 2024
Great Southern Copper (LSE:GSCU)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Sep 2023 a Sep 2024