Ann: Quarterly Reports - March 2017, page-5

SAL DE VIDA – OPERATIONS
The Company is pleased to report that the last quarter has seen the Sal de Vida (“SDV”) team move forward significantly with a number of key milestones being achieved. Field drilling of the initial two production wells is well underway, along with a third exploration well. The re-commencement of field work was undertaken in an organised and safe manner, and in close partnership with and participation of the local communities in Catamarca and Salta. During the quarter, the SDV Project was granted an extension of its Environmental Permit by the Mining Secretary of Catamarca. The renewal of this permit will allow the project to move towards the definitive test work phase, all the way through completion of construction to commissioning. In line with the requirements stipulated within the permit, the SDV team will be following through on plans to increase local employment participation for completion of its planned field activities. Galaxy’s local Argentine subsidiary has also established a presence in San Fernando, the capital city of Catamarca Province and will be using this local office as a base to coordinate recruitment and other human resource initiatives in the regional community. Members of the local SDV team were also actively engaged in field visits to surrounding communities and key stakeholders, such as that at Cienaga Redonda, which is adjacent to the planned project development site location. In February, the Company confirmed appointments to the SDV Development team, bringing on board industry professionals with a combined 200 years of experience with the leading global lithium producers SQM, FMC and Rockwood. This team of highly credentialed industry specialists have the expertise and proven track record of developing lithium brine projects over the past couple of decades, and cover all the major technical disciplines required for the project including processing and chemical plant operations, engineering and construction, as well as hydro-geology.
The Development Team, led by David Guerrero -General Manager of Galaxy SDV, includes:
Processing & Chemical Plant Operations Dr Vijay Mehta (P.Chem, PhD) Over 40 years’ experience working for numerous lithium and other specialty chemical companies, including 26 years at FMC,
as head of product and process development Pedro Pavlovic (P.Eng, MBA) Over 40 years of experience as a process expert in lithium and potassium extraction working with the majors, formerly MD of CORFO, developing the resources at the Salar de Atacama Daniel Chavez Diaz (P.Eng, MBA) Over 25 years of experience in lithium brine operations, formerly MD of FMC’s operations at the Salar del Hombre Muerto, also President of FMC subsidiary Minera de Altiplano Marcelo Bravo Veas (P.Eng) Over 16 years of experience, including 12 years at SQM as chief of process engineering, overseeing evaporation ponds construction and operations at the Salar de Atacama Engineering & Construction Mario Portillo (P.Eng) Over 40 years of experience as project engineering manager at Techint, which was lead construction and engineering consultant for the FMC lithium carbonate and chloride operations Hydro-Geology Dr Rodolfo Garcia (P.Geo, PhD) Over 28 years of experience working on studying and modelling the hydro-geology of numerous brine projects in the region, including those of FMC, Lithium Americas and Orocobre All tenements related to the SDV Project were maintained in good standing with both the Salta and Catamarca provincial governments, and will remain so with the planned budgeted expenditure for the year. The budgeted expenditure will cover development work for the initial production wells and planned 45 hectares of evaporation ponds, both of which will be utilised as part of the future full scale production operations. Upon completion of the topographic survey, the evaporation ponds location will be finalised. Commencing in the fourth quarter of this year, the newly constructed evaporation ponds will be initially used to perform testing and optimisation work, particularly around pond liner selection. To facilitate the overall increased level of activity at the project, an existing camp facility in the area was acquired and will be refurbished to accommodate up to 80 construction and project development staff