The real critical point will be by the middle of 2024, we will have our first resource calculation (and) that will set the company on the stage for solidifying our discovery, and sharing with the investment world the magnitude of what we have,” Cacos said.
Argentina Lithium’s game-changing US$90 million investment deal with global car manufacturer Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) in September 2023 allowed the company to accelerate exploration at its Rincon West and Antofalla projects, both of which are flagship assets.
“(Stellantis’ investment) changed our overall strategy, how we approach our exploration progress, because we don't have to pay attention to the short-term machinations of the stock market. We can maintain a longer-term view while keeping our strategic goal in place — defining a resource, defining an engineering study and then going into production,” Cacos said.
The company is also in a good position to “be active” while the rest of the lithium industry is taking a step back to conserve capital amid weakening lithium prices.
“As a junior, we're in a very privileged situation where we're actually speeding up and accelerating things as we've retooled all our exploration budgets. Permitting is the one thing that has to come into place. And that's going to come in place over the coming months. And then we'll have two and three drill rigs turning at the same time, and be able to advance our projects to that prefeasibility study stage much, much quicker than we originally anticipated,” Cacos said.
Watch the full interview with Argentina Lithium President and CEO Nikolaos Cacos above.