Update on Southern Lithium's Cruz Property, Salta Province, Argentina
VANCOUVER - Southern Lithium Corp. (TSX-V: SNL FSE: SL5) ("Southern" or "the Company") is pleased to provide an update for the lithium exploration program announced (December 6, 2016), to be executed at its Cruz Property (the "Property"), located in Salta Province, Argentina. The Company is waiting for the review process of the previously submitted application to be completed and the issuance of the permit to drill the property in first quarter of 2017. While waiting for the permit to be issued, the Company has initiated a geophysical survey that will enable the Company to delineate bodies of brine and identify drill targets.
The Phase I lithium brine exploration program will consist of drilling one core hole at two separate locations in the salar to establish stratigraphic and porosity data, and for brine extraction and evaporation trials. At both sites, an HQ core hole will test the salar to a depth of 350m, or deeper if warranted to ensure that any brine bodies identified by the geophysical survey in the salar basin are sampled. In the deeper parts of some salar basins, coarse sediments that were deposited early during the filling of the basins have the potential to be excellent brine aquifers.
During the drilling, samples for chemical analysis will be collected using a drive point system, which employs an in-situ sampling tool to collect brine samples from discrete vertical intervals. The brine will be tested on-site to determine density, conductivity and pH. Chemical analysis will be will be completed at a specialized, certified laboratory.
After drilling the core holes, down-hole geophysics will be used to target potentially productive zones. Subsequently, each hole will be cleaned and fitted with slotted casing and a gravel filter for possible future use as a monitoring well if results indicate that an adjacent pumping test well be drilled.
The program will be managed on the ground in Argentina through its joint venture partner Millennial Lithium Corp. Millennial has engaged HIDROTEC S.R.L., a Salta-based drilling company with extensive recent experience in drilling and testing salar-hosted lithium brines, to complete the Phase I drilling program. Millennial has engaged Mike Rosko of Montgomery and Associates, Inc. a US-based hydrogeological consultancy to provide program guidance and act as the Company's qualified person for reporting results.
About the Cruz Property
Through its joint venture partner Millennial Lithium Corp. (TSX-V: ML) (OTCQB: MLNLF), the Company has executed a formal option agreement with Proyecto Pastos Grandes S.A. ("PPG SA"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Millennial, to be granted an option to acquire an eighty percent (80%) interest in the PPG SA's Cruz Property in the Pocitos Salar Basin in Salta Province, Argentina.
The Cruz Property is located in the heart of South America's Lithium Triangle (northern Chile, northwestern Argentina and southwest Bolivia). The property encompasses 2,500 hectares in the Pocitos salar basin in Salta Province, Argentina, and lies 11 kilometers south of ADY Resources Limited's lithium brine resource in the Salar del Rincon Basin.
The Cruz property is adjacent to the Rincon volcanic center that defines the southern limit of the Rincon salar basin, where ADY Resources Limited is extracting lithium brine, and the northern limit of the Pocitos salar basin, where the Cruz property is located. Both properties lie along the structural belt that hosts the important lithium resources of the region, and at the junction of a large north-south fault system and the northwest-southeast megastructure along which lies the Rincon volcano, the possible source of the lithium brine in both salar basins.
The 60-kilometer long Pocitos salar basin has previously only been drill tested with a shallow 12-hole program in the 1970s, by an Argentinean government agency "Direccion General de Fabricaciones Militares". To date, this is the only confirmed exploration drilling conducted in the Pocitos basin. The hole that produced the best results is near the southeast edge of the Cruz property boundary, and averaged 417 parts per million; note that these results are considered historical and cannot be confirmed under NI 43-101 standards.
About Southern Lithium Corp. (TSX-V: SNL FSE: SL5)
Southern Lithium Corp. is a resource exploration company engaged in the business of acquiring and exploring minerals properties. Southern Lithium Corp. has assembled an experienced management team with a growth strategy to develop portfolio of Lithium projects. The Company's main objective is to add shareholder value through exploration and development of high quality resources through strategic acquisitions, joint ventures, and marketing while maintaining a lower risk profile through project diversification and sound, cost-effective financial management. With the potential acquisition of the Cruz property, Southern Lithium intends to establish its presence in the Pocitos basin and further deliver on its mission to secure technically superior lithium projects. The Company is only focusing on projects of the highest technical merit in favorable geopolitical jurisdictions.
Qualified Persons
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Larry Segerstrom, M.Sc. (Geology), P.Geo., a Director of the Company, who is a "Qualified Person" as such term is defined under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").
Further information about the Company is available on our website at www.southernlithium.com or under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
"David Alexander"
Chief Financial Officer
For further information, please contact:
Sam Eskandari
Phone: +1.416.918.6785
Email: ir@southernlithium.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within it, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, other than as required pursuant to applicable securities laws.
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