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Sal De Vida: Lithium Brine Deposit in Argentina
The Sal de Vida lithium and potash brine deposit is Galaxy Resource’s wholly-owned flagship project. Sal de Vida is recognized as one of the largest and highest quality undeveloped lithium brine deposits in the world. Galaxy acquired the project as part of its merger with Lithium One in March, 2012. Sal de Vida is located in northwest Argentina in what is known as the Lithium Triangle which produces more than 60 percent of the world’s annual lithium output.

The project encompasses 385 square kilometers on the eastern half of the Salar de Hombre Muerto at an altitude of about 4,000 meters, straddling Salta and Catamarca Province. The western portion of the salar is home to the Fenix lithium brine operation, the country’s only commercially producing lithium operation (owned by FMC subsidiary) which has been operating there since the 1990’s and has a reported mine life of over 75 years. Orocobre’s Tincalayu borate mining operation lies to the northwest of the country in Jujuy Province.

Sal de Vida is accessible year-round by road. Infrastructure in the area includes access to a deep sea port, trained labor pool, and a gas pipeline extension from the town of Pocitios to the Fenix operation which lies 24 km from Sal de Vida. The pipeline is designed to bring natural gas to the region’s mining and industrial operations; currently, a 20-kilometer spur extension to the Sal de Vida operation site is in the planning stages.

Amongst the world’s highest quality lithium brines

Three key aspects of the lithium brine chemistry at Sal de Vida make it one of the highest quality lithium brine developments in the world:

• High lithium content—essential for large-scale production
• High potassium yields— significant potash credits reduce operation costs
• Low magnesium/lithium ratio—low impurities reduce costs and yield higher quality product

“Higher lithium grades support the potential for lower capex developments and better operating margins while low impurity levels support lower production costs,” noted Canaccord in a research report. “GXY’s Sal de Vida development project ranks well in both metrics, being second to only FMC’s Salar de Hombre Muerto in terms of grade, while the project has among the lowest Mg:Li ratios in the peer group.”

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