VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 06, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp.
(TSX-V:LIT) (FSE:OAY1) (WKN: A0RK7E) (OTC:PNXLF), “Argentina Lithium” or the “Company”) is pleased to
announce that it has acquired a 100% interest in, or has under application, mineral rights totaling 23,700 hectares covering the
entire Incahuasi Salar and basin in Catamarca Province, Argentina. The salar is situated within the “Lithium Triangle” of
Argentina and Chile, and has characteristics prospective for lithium-rich brines. Initial sampling of near-surface
brines has returned up to 409mg/L lithium, and geophysical surveying indicates the potential for lithium-rich brines at depth.
“This acquisition provides the Company and our shareholders full control of an exciting new project that
covers the entire salar basin,” said Nikolaos Cacos, President and C.E.O. “Our technical advisors are very optimistic
about the potential and we are moving forward with a detailed program to identify and quantify subsurface brines.”
The Company is now in the process of planning a detailed exploration program at the project.
The Incahuasi Lithium Project
The Salar de Incahuasi is located in the northwest of Catamarca Province at approximately 3260 metres above sea
level, in the southern half of the “Lithium Triangle”. Access to the Incahuasi salar is by gravel road, approximately 34 kilometres
southwest from the town of Antofagasta de la Sierra. The salar is approximately 17 kilometres long north to south, and 2.5
kilometres wide, and divided into a north and south section. The geological environment at Incahausi is similar to other
salars in the Puna region where lithium and potash are found. The northern portion is flatter, partially covered with surface
water, with crusts of halite and ulexite. The central part of the salar has a slightly lower altitude, causing surficial
waters to converge in this area. The southern portion of the salar is covered by terrigenous sediments including sand, clays,
halite and sodium-sulphates. Additional information on the geology of the salar will be available on the Company website
shortly.
The project currently consists of 13,711 hectares in seven properties covering 90% of the existing salar
surface. These properties are wholly-owned by the Argentine subsidiary of the Company, with no royalties.
Applications have been made for approximately 10,000 hectares of additional property, which will complete the coverage of the salar
to the south and extend the Companies holdings to cover the entire basin to the north.
To date the company has completed reconnaissance surface sampling of 52 pits, geological mapping and a
geo-electrical survey. A total of 52 samples of brine were collected along 15 kilometres of the long axis of the Salar,
covering an area of app+roximately 2800 hectares (see Figure 1: https://argentinalithium.com/assets/news/2017-11-fig-1-h7peap.pdf ). Pits were dug by hand or
using an auger to a maximum depth of 8 metres in order to access near-surface brines. Once contacted, brine was allowed to
flood the pit and was then sampled from the depth of the resulting water level. The overall samples average is 62 mg/L of lithium
and 4661 mg/L of potassium, with a maximum value of 409 mg/l lithium and 1.56% potassium from a sample in the central portion of
the salar. Magnesium is high in all samples, with an average grade in the 52 samples of 9800 mg/L. As such, the Company is
consulting with its technical advisors, including Dr. Daniel Galli, on recovery opportunities for magnesium carbonate along with
lithium and potassium products. Sample locations and results are compiled in Table 1: https://argentinalithium.com/assets/news/2017-11-tab-1-h7peap.pdf .
The geo-electrical survey at Incahuasi was completed by Geofisica Argentina S.A., an experienced local company.
The method uses resistivity to characterize the hydrogeological conditions of the salar, including conductive and semi-conductive
zones interpreted to be clastic and/or fractured evaporitic sedimentary layers that may contain brines bearing lithium and
potash. A total of 69 Vertical Electrical Soundings (VES) were done along nine east-west lines cross-cutting the entire
salar. The survey shows extremely low resistivity bodies of -0.1 ohm-m, corresponding to extremely high conductivity in some cases
starting at surface and extending up to 200 metres deep. These are interpreted as potentially significant brine aquifers. In
several pseudo-sections high conductivity zones (in blue) were detected below the present alluvial fans and terrigenous sediments,
opening the possibility of brines below them, an example of which is shown in Figure 2: https://argentinalithium.com/assets/news/2017-11-fig-2-h7peap.pdf .
Methodology & QA/QC
Sample from surface pits were a minimum of 1000 millilitres and stored in clean, secure containers for transportation. Samples were
tested in the field for conductivity, density, temperature and pH. The samples were forwarded to the Alex Stewart Argentina
laboratory in Jujuy for analysis.
Qualified Person
The program was undertaken under the supervision of David Terry, Ph.D., P.Geo., a Director of the Company and a Qualified Person as
defined in National Instrument 43-101. The contents of this news release have been reviewed and approved by Dr. Terry.
About Argentina Lithium
Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp is focused on acquiring high quality lithium projects in Argentina, and advancing them towards
production in order to meet the growing global demand from the battery sector. The management group has a long history of success
in the resource sector of Argentina, and has assembled a first rate team of experts to acquire and advance the best lithium
properties in the world renowned “Lithium Triangle”. The Company is a member of the Grosso Group, a resource management group that
has pioneered exploration in Argentina since 1993.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
“Nikolaos Cacos”
_______________________________
Nikolaos Cacos, President, CEO and Director
For further information please contact:
Corporate Communications
Tel: 1-604-687-1828
Toll-Free: 1-800-901-0058
Email: info@argentinalithium.com
Neither 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 may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future
events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those
currently anticipated in such statements. Readers are encouraged to refer to the Company's public disclosure documents for a more
detailed discussion of factors that may impact expected future results. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or
revise any forward-looking statements. We advise U.S. investors that the SEC's mining guidelines strictly prohibit
information of this type in documents filed with the SEC. U.S. investors are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties
are not indicative of mineral deposits on our properties.