Lithium

Yapuckuta, Chile

Our Yapuckuta Project is located within the enormous Atacama Salar. The southern part of the salar is a source of a quarter of the world’s current lithium supply. The geology and hydrogeology of the Yapuckuta Project has been studied on a regional basis by third parties and government agencies, indicating that the underground basin of resources being tapped to the south is the same as in the north.

MAJOR ASSET

Wealth Minerals has a large land position in the lithium industry’s leading salar. WML’s development plans are to follow upon the success of third party production facilities south of WML’s land position in the Atacama Salar. Third party facilities represent approximately ⅓ of global lithium production.

LOCATION

The concessions cover an area of approximately 46,200 hectares located in the northern part of the Atacama Salar, in Region II of Chile. The concessions are adjacent to highway 23 which connects northern Chile with Argentina.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FROM NI 43-101 REPORT

The Salar de Atacama is host to more than 15% of the world’s known lithium reserves, and yet exploration and production of lithium has occurred only in the southern portion of the Salar. The proximity of the Project to existing producers strongly suggests that exploration potential is good for the discovery of brines in the northern portion of the Salar, underlying the Project.

The principal origin of lithium in the Salar de Atacama is interpreted to be the lithium-bearing geothermal waters from the El Tatio Geyser Field, located north of the salar. The geothermal fluids enter the northern part of the Salar de Atacama via surface and subsurface flow. Further, the chemistry of the salar brines is almost identical to the chemistry of the geothermal fluids of El Tatio, further strengthening the interpretation that the El Tatio geothermal fluids are the source of lithium and potassium in the Salar.

The geology of the Project is similar to the sedimentary settings of other salars such as Maricunga, La Isla, Olaroz, and Cauchari, where potentially economic lithium resources have been reported by other public and private lithium exploration companies. Regional studies of the Salar de Atacama’s geology, hydrogeology, climate and other factors provide a high-level of understanding of the lithium brine processes in the region, lending credence to the exploration potential of the Project.

Wealth Minerals intends to evaluate the brine potential of the Project by utilizing geophysical methods to better evaluate basin configuration, geologic structure, and the hydrogeology of the concessions, followed by drill testing any targets developed by the initial work.

SALAR COMPARISON

The Atacama Salar is the World’s highest grade and largest producing lithium brine deposit, and currently produces approximately one third of global lithium output from two production facilities operated by Sociedad Quimica y Minera (“SQM”) and Rockwood Lithium. Yapuckuta possesses a very high grade of both lithium (1,840mg/l) and potassium (22,630mg/l), has a high rate of evaporation (3,200 mm per year) and extremely low annual rainfall (15mm average per year). These characteristics make Yapuckuta’s finished lithium carbonate easier and cheaper to produce than its peer group globally. A key factor in lithium production costs is evaporation time and Atacama Salar’s evaporation rate is the highest in the lithium industry.

Salar de Atacama1Salar de Maricunga2Salar de Olaroz2Salar de Hombre Muerto2Salar de Cauchari3
CountryChileChileArgentinaArgentinaArgentina
Lithium (mg/l)1,8401,250690740590
Potassium (mg/l)22,6308,9705,7307,4004,850
Magnesium (mg/l)11,7408,2801,6601,0201,420
Mg/Li6.406.632.401.402.43
K/Li12.337.188.309.958.30
K/Mg1.931.083.467.263.58