Codelco seeks permit for $650m Andina water project
The plan is to funnel water from the mine's Ovejeria tailings, or mine waste, and other sources to the concentrator plant.
The Mining Court of the Argentinian province of Salta granted Millennial Lithium’s (TSXV: ML) subsidiary, Proyecto Pastos Grandes S.A, the Nueva Sijesyta 01 mining license, which was part of a set of properties owned by state company Remsa.
The 109-hectare Nueva Sijesyta 01 was the last license, of a total of five that extend for 6557 hectares, that the company needed to join together its Pastos Grandes project and the contiguous Remsa tenements.
The total project area now controlled by Millennial Lithium has expanded to 12,730 hectares
In a media statement, Farhad Abasov, Millennial Lithium’s president and CEO, said that now that the licenses have been issued, plans for field and other work for 2020 will be evaluated on an ongoing basis due to the covid-19 pandemic.
For the time being, and taking into consideration that mining operations are classified as essential and exempted from some restrictions, Abasov said that his team on the ground continues to advance pilot evaporation ponds and a 3-tonne-per-month pilot lithium carbonate plant.
To date, the Canadian miner has invested over C$40 million in exploration and development work at Pastos Grandes, which includes 22 completed exploration/monitoring wells, four pumping test production wells, pilot ponds, the pilot plant as well as a year-round camp supported by a hybrid solar power system.
