Anson Resources Ltd (ASX:ASN) has established a substantial exploration target at its recently staked Green River Lithium Project in the Paradox Basin in south-eastern Utah, USA.
The target points to mineral resource potential in the same ballpark as Anson's flagship asset, the nearby Paradox Lithium Project, and appears to host positive geological features similar to that asset, including rock units and stratigraphy.
At Green River, the company has discovered supersaturated brines in historical oil and gas drilling, enabling Anson to confirm a substantial exploration target of 2 to 2.6 billion tonnes of brine, grading 100-150 parts per million (ppm) lithium and 2,000-3,000 ppm bromine.
This exploration target is conceptual in nature as there has been insufficient exploration undertaken to define a mineral resource for the Leadville Formation. It is uncertain that future exploration will result in a mineral resource.
The nearby Paradox Project hosts a JORC mineral resource of 1.038 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) and 5.27 million tonnes of bromine, which is subject to further expansion as the company moves forward with its Western Resource expansion drilling campaign.
Opportunity to expand
Green River was staked in January and covers 10,620 hectares or 106.2 square kilometres, 50 kilometres northwest of the Paradox Project. It presents the opportunity to expand the company’s Paradox Basin JORC resource.
What’s more, the Mississippian units at Green River indicate a very large reservoir, while the clastic zones at Green River are thicker than at the Paradox Project.
The company plans to deploy existing test-work and core to help expedite a JORC mineral resource at Green River.
A Notice of Intent for a planned re-entry program is being progressed for Green River to allow for drilling and sampling, with the aim of defining a mineral resource.
Large existing database of information
Anson will be able to obtain core from the Utah Geological Survey to carry out test-work to determine the properties of the units, including porosity and specific yield, which are required inputs for a JORC resource estimation.
This will provide a significant time and cost saving for Anson in delineating a JORC resource at Green River.
All the available data helps confirm that the Green River Project is very similar, in all aspects, to the Paradox Project. Additionally, Green River has numerous historical oil and gas wells that have been drilled through or into rock units of interest.
Downhole geophysical logs are available for all wells in the Green River Project area and these can provide vital information on key factors such as depth-to-target units and porosity.
This has generated a large database of information that Anson proposes to access to reduce exploration costs and shorten the timeframe to complete resource estimation.