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Anson Resources ready to drill at U.S. lithium project

Published: 10:51 02 Jan 2018 AEDT

Drill collar
The Gold Bar Unit 2 drill collar at the Paradox Lithium Project in Utah

Anson Resources Ltd (ASX:ASN) has completed drilling preparations at its Paradox Lithium Project in the Lithium Four Corners area of the U.S. state of Utah.

The drill rig will now be moved to the site where it will re-enter the Gold Bar Unit 2 well and begin sampling.

Following drilling Anson will begin a metallurgical test work program of samples with the aim of producing lithium carbonate.

Strong news flow expected

A strong flow of news during 2018 is expected to support the company’s share price which continues to climb, reaching a 12-month high of $0.19 in early trade.

Bruce Richardson, managing director, commented: "Extracting brine is now extremely close and Anson remains firmly on schedule to produce its first lithium carbonate in April 2018."

READ: Anson Resources breaks ground at Paradox Lithium Project

The company has built the drill pad, excavated the cuttings pit, dug the cellar and upgraded the site access road.

Excavation of the cellar, welding the casings and installing the blowout preventers will be completed before the rig arrives, which will save time during the drilling.

The test work program involves assaying samples for lithium and other minerals at a laboratory in the U.S.A.

Bulk sample will be processed

A 500 litre bulk sample will also be processed in a bench-top plant with the goal of producing lithium carbonate.

This process will be based upon that which successfully removed magnesium from a synthetic brine sample in April 2017.

It will consist of extracting the boron by solvent extraction (SX), followed by removal of the magnesium by chemical precipitation and calcium by a SX process.

Other mineral products possible

Richardson added: "In addition to having samples to assay, the likely economics of the project can begin to be understood as further metallurgical test work will also begin on the possible economics of the other mineral products.

"In addition to lithium in the brines, other products include boron, bromine, iodine and magnesium."

These products will also be offered to potential end users for qualification test work.

Results of the bench-top pilot plant will be used for the design of an in-field pilot plant, including the extraction of lithium and other minerals from the Paradox Basin brines.

The in-field plant is intended to validate the process designed and tested in the laboratory scale bench-top plant, and is not intended to be a production plant.

Anson then plans to progress to further drilling, feasibility study and ultimately full-scale production.

READ: Anson Resources secures additional funding from Zhongfan Group

The company’s exploration and test work is being supported by Zhongfan Group, a privately owned, large scale international enterprise group based in Shanghai, China, that integrates resource development, mineral trading and new material technology development.

Last week Anson completed a further share placement to Zhongfan at $0.088 to raise $1.76 million.

Zhongfan and Anson have a memorandum of understanding to work towards a binding agreement for Zhongfan to fund development works at the Paradox project.

New appointment

Anson has appointed Nevenka Jackson as company secretary, chief financial officer and officer responsible for communication with the ASX.

The appointment will enable Michael van Uffelen to relinquish these roles in order to provide assistance to the managing director.

Anson Resources enters next development phase at Paradox lithium camp

Anson Resources Ltd (ASX:ASN) managing director and CEO Bruce Richardson brings Proactive up to speed on a crucial step towards construction at the company’s Paradox lithium camp in Utah. The critical minerals player has just commenced a pivotal front end engineering and design (FEED) study,...

on 26/5/23