The drilling will be conducted in two newly identified zones that are prospective for enriched lithium brine, below the Duperow formation and the resource of 6.3 million tonnes of LCE
Arizona starts drilling at Prairie lithium project. (Credit: Zac Edmonds on Unsplash)
Arizona Lithium has selected Alberta-based Rhythm Engineering for the upcoming drilling program at its Prairie lithium project in Saskatchewan, Canada.
The Australian mining company has awarded Rhythm Engineering the drilling and completion engineering and supervision services work, following an extensive proposal review process.
Arizona Lithium said Rhythm has expertise that will add considerable value to the planning, procurement, and execution of the upcoming drilling program in Saskatchewan.
Rhythm Engineering engineering and operations president Keith Simard said: “We are tremendously grateful for this opportunity to work with Arizona Lithium on their Prairie Project.
“Our team looks forward to delivering the design and execution plans required to prove this world-class asset and help secure and develop a long-term source for lithium.”
Prairie Lithium Project is located in the Williston Basin of Saskatchewan, Canada, and holds a resource of 6.3MT of LCE, comprised of 4.5MT LCE Indicated and 1.8MT LCE Inferred.
The project has easy access to key infrastructure, including electricity, natural gas, fresh water, paved highways and railroads, and aims to have strong environmental credentials.
Arizona Lithium will begin the fully funded exploration works at the project by drilling wells into the deeper Dawson Bay and Souris River Formations.
The two formations are said to be prospective for enriched lithium brine but have not been explored to date.
In November last year, the company started the construction of the first commercial pad, on a site that will hold the wells at the first proposed commercial Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) facility.
The company has prepared the ground for the first production and disposal wells, where the drilling activities are expected to begin in the second quarter of this year.
The prepared well pad is expected to produce at a rate of around 2,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE), based on its preliminary feasibility study (PFS).
Arizona Lithium expects the subsequent wells to be drilled on Pad 2 and Pad 3, where the three pads are anticipated to support the production of 6,000 tonnes of LCE.
Arizona Lithium managing director Paul Lloyd said: “The drilling program is officially underway with the commencement of the detailed planning phase, with field activities to commence in Q2 of 2024.
“We were very impressed with the proposal from Rhythm Engineering Inc. and although we had a plethora of options, we are confident that Rhythm are the group capable of completing this key task with the highest speed and quality.
“We look forward to keeping the market up to date with field activities as well as long lead time purchases/orders in order to continue ticking the boxes to successfully start production of lithium brines in 2025.”