The Company and its Argentinian subsidiary, Argentina Litio y Energía have entered into three new option agreements with local vendors to acquire a 100% interest in 10,364 hectares of new properties
Lithium floating in oil. (Credit: Tomihahndorf at German Wikipedia)
Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp. (TSX-V: LIT) (FSE: OAY3) (OTC: PNXLF) (“Argentina Lithium” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it is expanding its lithium exploration project holdings at the Pocitos Salar in Salta Province, at the heart of Argentina’s world-renowned Lithium Triangle. The Company’s holdings in this salar now total over 26,000 hectares. The Company and its Argentinian subsidiary, Argentina Litio y Energía S.A. have entered into three new option agreements with local vendors to acquire a 100% interest in 10,364 hectares of new properties. The Company already holds an option for 15,857 hectares of properties located on the west side of the Pocitos Salar.
¨Pocitos, one of the largest salars within Argentina’s Lithium Triangle, remains a key under-explored salar in Salta. With these new acquisitions, we are now the largest holder of claims in this very prospective basin,” stated Nikolaos Cacos, President and C.E.O.
The Pocitos Salar is located approximately 100 kilometres west of the town of San Antonio de los Cobres, the largest town in Argentina’s high plain, and approximately 250 kilometres west of the provincial capital city of Salta. The Provincial Route 17 and the natural gas pipeline-fed industrial park at the settlement of Pocitos are located 17 km to the east. The rail line that crosses the middle of the Pocitos West property joins Salta with the port of Antofagasta on the Chilean Pacific coast. The present surface expression of the Pocitos Salar is approximately 57 kilometres north-south, and approximately 10 kilometres east-west. The salt pan is almost completely flat with portions of the older salar surface covered by talus and alluvial fan. The new properties are believed to have had little prior exploration and no drilling; they are located along the eastern flank and southern portion of the Pocitos basin. The Company will be planning its exploration approach to the Pocitos properties over the coming weeks.
Option Agreement Details
Argentina Lithium can acquire a 100% interest in the 1,602 hectare “El Pidio GIII” property in the southeast of the Pocitos Basin pursuant to an option agreement dated January 3, 2022. The option terms include US$165,000 in cash payments over three years, including a mandatory total of US$30,000 over the first 18 months. In addition, 25,000 shares of the Company are to be issued to the vendor on signing, with additional share issuances valued at CAD$70,000 over the subsequent three years, including mandatory issuances valued at CAD$25,000 over the first 18 months.
Argentina Lithium can acquire a 100% interest in the Aguamarga 11 and Aguamarga 16 properties, totalling 7000 hectares in the east flank of the Pocitos Basin pursuant to an option agreement dated January 3, 2022. The option terms include US$1,890,000 in cash payments over three years, including a mandatory total of US$105,000 over the first 12 months. In addition, 168,000 shares of the Company are to be issued to the vendor on signing, with additional share issuances valued at CAD$651,000 over the subsequent three years, including a mandatory issuance valued at CAD$126,000 after twelve months.
The obligations of the Company under the two above-mentioned option agreements are subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the “Exchange”).
The number of common shares of the Company issuable under the option agreements are calculated based on the discounted market price of the Common Shares on the Exchange on the business day immediately prior to the date of this news release. All shares issued pursuant to the terms of the option agreements are subject to a hold period under applicable securities laws for a period of four months from the date of issuance.
The third agreement dated January 6, 2022, gives Argentina Lithium the option to earn a 100% interest in five properties totalling approximately 1,762 hectares at the Pocitos Salar (“the Ramos Properties”). The option terms include mandatory payments totalling US$150,000 in the first year, followed by US$550,000 2 years after signing.
Source: Company Press Release