REG - Great Southrn.Copper - GSC Secures Monti Lithium Project in Chile

Great Southern CopperAnnouncement

20/09/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 9894M  Great Southern Copper PLC  20 September 2023

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE UK
VERSION OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION NO 596/2014 WHICH IS PART OF ENGLISH
LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018, AS AMENDED.  ON
PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS
INFORMATION IS CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

 

20 September 2023

 

Great Southern Copper plc

("GSC" or the "Company")

 

 

GSC Secures "Monti Lithium Project" in the Prolific Salar de Atacama Region,
Chile

 

23,500 ha of Concession Area under Application

 

Great Southern Copper plc (LSE: GSCU), mineral exploration company focused on
the discovery of copper-gold and lithium deposits in Chile, is pleased to
announce that it has executed a binding Term Sheet for the Monti Lithium
Project located in the Salar de Atacama, Chile's premier lithium producing
region.

 

Summary:

·    Large concession holding under application in the Salar de Atacama
district

·    The Salar de Atacama is Chile's premier lithium brine production
region

·    Ideal location with excellent infrastructure for power, transport and
port

·    Term Sheet allows for 100% GSC ownership of the Monti Lithium Project
on grant of concessions and satisfaction of option payments

·    Initial US$10,000 payment to vendors completed with further annual
cash and share payments over 3 years for a total consideration value of
US$2.26m (£1.8m)

·    Delivers on corporate objective to add third project to GSC's
portfolio

·    Continuing copper exploration with imminent drilling to commence at
highly prospective Especularita copper/gold targets

 

Monti Li Project:

The Monti Lithium Project, located in the Salar de Atacama district of Chile
(Figure 1), comprises 81 concession applications for a total combined
concession area of 235 km(2) (23,500 ha).

 

The Salar de Atacama is a Tier 1 lithium production salar with estimated
pre-mine resources greater than 6.0 Mt Li(1). Lithium is hosted in
subterranean brine solutions which are pumped to the surface, where the
lithium is extracted via evaporation processes producing a lithium carbonate
(LiCO(3)) concentrate product.

 

Term Sheet:

GSC have signed a binding Term Sheet which allows the Company to earn 100% of
the potential mining rights of the Monti Lithium Project once granted, subject
to the satisfaction of annual option payments over a 4-year period according
to the following schedule:

 

 Date          Cash US$   US$ Value GSCU shares
 Signing date  10,000     0
 6 months      50,000     0
 12 months     50,000     50,000
 24 months     50,000     50,000
 36 months     1,000,000  1,000,000

 

 

The Company has executed the Terms Sheet with payment of US$10,000 to the
vendor. There are no royalty provisions attached and if the Company withdraws
from the agreement prior to satisfying the final option payment then it will
hold no interest in the Monti Lithium Project.

 

Sam Garrett, Chief Executive Officer of Great Southern Copper, said: "We are
very excited by the scale of the opportunity that the Monti Lithium Project
presents and to enter the highly competitive lithium exploration space in
Chile.

 

"Chile is the world's largest producer of copper and the second-largest
producer of lithium. Both metals are considered vital commodities as the world
aims to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and transition to green energy. As
such, the Monti Lithium Project is a natural fit to complement GSC's two
copper projects at San Lorenzo and Especularita.

 

"The Monti Lithium Project delivers on the Company's strategic objective to
add a third project to its portfolio and further emphasises the Company's
enduring and important relationship with our in-country partners. Our partners
ability to identify projects of significance is a great asset to GSC."

 

Lithium production in Chile:

Chile is currently the world's second largest producer of lithium after
Australia(2). Unlike Australia where lithium is recovered from spodumene-rich
pegmatites, lithium in Chile is recovered from salt brine solutions located
within and beneath high-altitude geographic depressions known as "salars" or
salt lakes. In the Andean region of South America, lithium-rich salars occur
in Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. Total reserves and resources of lithium
calculated in Chile are estimated at 14.3 Mt Li(3) with the Salar de Atacama
being the largest lithium producing salar.

 

The Chilean government recognises the strategic importance of lithium to the
country's economy and has recently moved to address a new model whereby
companies wishing to extract and produce lithium are required to enter into
contracts (CEOLs) with the State, negotiating with government companies
Codelco or ENAMI(4).  Codelco is Chile's state copper mining company and is
the largest copper producer globally. ENAMI is a state-owned copper and
gold-silver production company mandated to purchase and process ores from
medium and small-scale copper and gold miners across Chile. Concerns for the
water and environmental impact of evaporation extraction of lithium from
brines on the water table of the salars also means that new producers in Chile
will be required to utilise direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology to
recover lithium from brine solutions.

 

Next steps:

Over the coming months the Company will conduct due diligence on the project
and prepare plans for its exploration programmes. Work will include
reconnaissance field trips to undertake surface sampling and mapping
programmes.

 

 

Figure 1: Location of Monti Lithium project concession applications (indicated
by white polygons), Salar de Atacama, Chile. Location of evaporite pond
production facilities for (SQM) and Albemarle are indicated.

 

References:

1.    Sykes (2019): A global overview of the geology and economics of
lithium production. AusIMM lithium conference.

2.    U.S. Geological Survey (2023): Mineral commodity summaries.

3.    Cabello (2021): Lithium brine production, reserves, resources and
exploration in Chile: An updated review. Ore Geology Reviews, v128.

4.    Quinzio (2022): Gobernanza y marco legal para la exploitacion del
litio en Chile.

 

Enquiries:

 

 Great Southern Copper plc
 Sam Garrett, Chief Executive Officer      +44 (0) 20 4582 3500

 SI Capital Limited
 Nick Emerson                              +44 (0) 1483 413500

 Gracechurch Group
 Harry Chathli, Alexis Gore, Henry Gamble  +44 (0) 20 4582 3500

 

Notes for Editors:

 

About Great Southern Copper

 

Great Southern Copper PLC is a UK-listed mineral exploration company focused
on the discovery of copper-gold-lithium deposits in Chile. The Company has the
option to acquire rights to 100% of three projects that are prospective for
large scale copper-gold deposits and lithium brine deposits. Chile is a
globally significant mining jurisdiction being recognised as the world's
largest copper producer and the second largest producer of lithium.

 

The three projects comprise the San Lorenzo and Especularita Cu-Au Projects,
located in the central north of Chile, and the Monti Lithium Project located
in the Salar de Atacama. The two early-stage Cu-Au exploration projects are
within the same coastal metallogenic belt as other major deposits including
Teck's Andacollo copper and gold mine. Significant historical small-scale and
artisanal workings for both copper and gold are readily evident in both
exploration project areas.

 

Great Southern Copper is strategically positioned to support the global market
for copper and lithium, both key metals in the clean energy transition around
the world. The Company is actively engaged in exploration and evaluation work
programmes targeting large tonnage, low to medium grade Cu-Au deposits as well
as lithium brine and lithium clay-hosted deposits.

 

Further information on the Company is available on the Company's website:
https://gscplc.com (https://gscplc.com)

 

 

Forward Looking and Cautionary Statements

Some statements in this announcement regarding estimates or future events are
forward-looking statements. They include indications of, and guidance on,
future earnings, cash flow, costs and financial performance. Forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to, statements preceded by words such
as "planned", "expected", "projected", "estimated", "may", "scheduled",
"intends", "anticipates", "believes", "potential", "predict", "foresee",
"proposed", "aim", "target", "opportunity", "could", "nominal", "conceptual"
and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements, opinions and estimates
included in this report are based on assumptions and contingencies which are
subject to change without notice, as are statements about market and industry
trends, which are based on interpretations of current market conditions.
Forward-looking statements are provided as a general guide only and should not
be relied on as a guarantee of future performance. Forward-looking statements
may be affected by a range of variables that could cause actual results to
differ from estimated or anticipated results and may cause the Company's
actual performance and financial results in future periods to materially
differ from any projections of future performance or results expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. So, there can be no assurance that
actual outcomes will not materially differ from these forward-looking
statements.

 

 

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