Brazil Minerals said that it has secured the exploration permit from a local mining authority for its 288-acre lithium project in the Salinas region in Minas Gerais state in Brazil.
Image: Lithium ingots with a thin layer of black nitride tarnish. Photo courtesy of Dnn87/Wikipedia.
With this new phase of the project, Brazil Minerals intends to proceed with a ground study campaign to start during the current quarter and be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2019.
The Company’s project is located within a mining district which was extensively researched by CPRM (“Companhia de Pesquisa de Recursos Minerais”), the government-funded Geological Survey of Brazil, and singled out for high levels of lithium mineralization.
In this district, the identified lithium deposits are associated with pegmatite formations, and lepidolite, petalite, and spodumene mineralization.
Brazil Minerals’ mining engineer Lucas Cordeiro Diniz said: “Besides the strong CPRM results, there are lithium mining operations in areas near the Brazil Minerals claim. Global demand for lithium is growing rapidly, encouraging strong interest for new deposits.”
Growth in demand for lithium is driven by its use in smart phones and electric vehicles. Approximately 46% of the lithium that is mined worldwide finds its use in lithium-ion batteries.
This segment of the lithium market is growing at 16% annually and is expected to reach $69 billion in size by 2022.
Brazil Minerals CEO Marc Fogassa said: “Today’s announcement is an important milestone in enabling Brazil Minerals to advance its lithium project. The other strategic project that we have, as disclosed before, is in cobalt.
“We view our cobalt and lithium projects as potentially high return investments for us, as new areas with lithium or cobalt mineralization are rare.”
Brazil Minerals has built a portfolio of high-quality mineral rights (the “BMIX Mineral Bank”) and continues to add areas methodically. The Company regularly evaluates and prioritizes its research effort on such properties and utilizes its own team and equipment for drilling.
Source: Company Press Release