Lithium

Kuska, Chile

At the Kuska Salar Project, geophysical surveys have identified very highly conductive zones interpreted to represent porous media with high-salinity fluids (potentially lithium-bearing brines) at depth, similar to the Atacama Salar to the south.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Kuska (formerly Ollagüe) consists of 10,500 hectares located in northern Chile, Region II, near the Chile-Bolivia border and approximately 200km due north from Atacama. Recent drilling activity by a peer company in the area returned lithium grades up to 480 Li mg/l and surface sampling has returned lithium grades as high as 1,140 Li mg/l. Readers are cautioned that the properties held by a peer company are adjacent properties and that Wealth has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in any part of these properties, and that mineral deposits on adjacent or similar properties are not in any way indicative of mineral deposits on Wealth’s mineral properties or position in the Ollagüe salar.

GEOPHYSICS SHOW POSITIVE CHARACTERISTICS

Wealth Minerals conducted Magneto-Telluric (“MT”) and coincident loop Transient Electromagnetic (“TEM”) surveys, which identified very highly conductive zones and are interpreted to represent porous media with high-salinity fluids (potentially lithium-bearing brines) at depth. Survey lines 3 and 4 (see location map on previous slide) returned excellent results of very low resistivity.

MAIDEN NI 43-101 RESOURCE ESTIMATE

In January of 2023, Wealth announced a maiden resource estimate for the Kuska project (formerly Ollagüe), with highlights including:
  • Total indicated resources are 741,000 tonnes LCE grading 175 ml/L.
  • Total inferred resources are 701,000 tonnes LCE grading 185 ml/L.
  • Based on the results of exploration conducted by third parties and the recent drilling program completed by Wealth, four tentative hydrogeologic units were defined.
  • These hydrogeologic units have medium to high permeability and are amenable for recovering brine to surface.
  • It is anticipated that deeper drilling may encounter lithium brine in the deeper parts of the Project, adding to the overall resource given that the lithium-rich brine is located in the deeper part of the basin.

PRELIMINARY ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT

In January of 2024, Wealth announced the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the Kuska Project, highlights of the assessment include:
  • Pre-tax NPV (10% discount) of US$1.65 bn and a project IRR of 33%
  • After-tax NPV (10% discount) of US$1.15 bn and a project IRR of 28%
  • The PEA describes the Kuska project development towards a 20,000 metric tpa LCE output and an anticipated Life of Mine (LOM) of 20 years.
  • Wealth intends to use a mature DLE technology (TRL 8 in the PEA) converting lithium-bearing brine into battery-grade Lithium Carbonate (>99.5% LC).
  • The PEA was produced by DRA Global’s Toronto office, together with resource experts from Montgomery & Associates and other third-party consultants with pertinent qualifications.