Lithium Power (LPI) is a pure-play lithium company with three distinct project regions. One in South America’s brine region and two in Western Australia’s hard-rock, providing diversity in both geography and geology.
The company’s primary focus is on the development of Chile’s next sustainable high-grade lithium mine. The Project is located within the ‘Lithium Triangle’ in northern Chile, home to the largest and highest quality lithium brine deposits.
Greenbushes, WA
Location: South-west Western Australia.
Ownership: 100% owned by LPI
Status: Exploration stage
Highlights
- Lithium Power has key properties adjacent to Greenbushes, the world’s largest hard rock Lithium mine, owned by Tianqi and Albemarle.
- The northern Greenbushes tenement, Balingup, covers 315 km2 located directly adjacent to the Greenbushes mine block owned by Talison, the world’s largest lithium producer.
- The purchase of CMC Lithium and its Greenbushes project in Western Australia adds an extra 365km2 of prospective ground around Talison Lithium’s Greenbushes Mine, the world’s largest hard-rock spodumene operation.
- An UltraGPR survey (Ground Penetration Radar) orientation was conducted across parts of the Blackwood Survey. This was conducted to test whether it was likely to be applicable in exploring for concealed pegmatites. The GPR over known pegmatites proved successful. An interpretation with the data set outlined potential pegmatites that were previously not mapped.
- An orientation soil sampling program of 42 samples on 300m x 300m spacing was completed at a newly defined target at the southern end of the Blackwood Prospect. The results show that the area is regionally anomalous in lithium. The highest value returned was 228 ppm lithium. The regional UltraFine sampling indicates that 40 ppm lithium in soil is anomalous. Thirty-two of the samples returned values greater or equal to 40 ppm Lithium.
Overview
The Greenbushes mine has been operating since 1888, producing tantalum and tin, with lithium first mined in 1985. The mine is now owned by Tianqi and Albemarle, two of the major global lithium producers, and has annual output of approximately 315.000 t/pa Li2O concentrate.
Greenbushes is an exceptionally high grade pegmatite district, which makes it particularly attractive for exploration. Because the mine has such large resources and reserves there has been very little exploration for lithium in the surrounding area.
Lithium Power holds granted exploration properties extending over 399.7 square kms in the Greenbushes region of southern Western Australia. They are adjacent to and along strike from the Greenbushes lithium mine containing 119.4 Mt @ 2.42% Li2O and owned and operated by Tianqi/Albemarle. These granted exploration properties are 100% owned by Lithium Power International.
Lithium Power International (LPI) acquired these properties before the recent surge in interest in lithium pegmatites and is exploring the district for undiscovered pegmatites.
Project status
In Q2 2022, the Company announced that it had two signed agreements to acquire four tenements which will significantly increase its overall holdings in Western Australia.
The acquisitions have significantly increased LPI’s ground position in the Greenbushes Area, making it the largest holder of ground along the Donnybrook-Bridgetown Shear Zone, and also, by obtaining tenements in the Eastern Goldfields region. These acquisitions, along with the tenements held in the Pilbara region, will diversify the Company’s geographic footprint in WA.
The purchase of CMC Lithium and its Greenbushes project in Western Australia adds an extra 365km2 of prospective ground around Talison Lithium’s Greenbushes Mine, the world’s largest hard-rock spodumene operation.
The tenements are of strategic importance in the Greenbushes exploration program. They have all necessary heritage and native title agreements in place, and the Conservation Management Plan (CMP) is in application.
It is intended to add these tenements to the Company’s existing approved CMP, which would allow for exploration on this land under the same conditions as LPI’s existing tenements.
The acquisitions support the Company’s ability to demerge its WA assets into a separate company, Western Lithium Ltd (refer ASX Announcement – 12 January 2022) and its strategy of unlocking the value of these assets, most likely through an ASX listing.
