Anson Resources Ltd (ASX:ASN) has acquired the Cane Creek 32-1 oil well and the associated oil and gas lease at its Paradox Lithium Project in Utah.
Bruce Richardson, managing director, said: “Acquiring a strategically located existing oil well completes a further step in the pilot plant plan, taking Anson one step closer to producing lithium carbonate.”
Anson will assume the bonding and rehabilitation costs and pay nominal consideration for the well and lease.
Infrastructure in place to service pilot plant
The well is strategically located near the in-field pilot plant industrial lease under consideration by the government of Utah.
It is self-powered by its own gas which may be utilised by the proposed in-field pilot plant.
A mains power line also runs through the acreage, and road infrastructure is established that could service a developed pilot plant.
First production of lithium carbonate in April 2018
Anson has been making steady progress since the successful removal of magnesium from synthetic brine was achieved in 2017.
A bulk brine sample collected from Gold Bar Unit 2 will be processed in a bench top plant to validate magnesium can be removed and lithium carbonate can be produced.
READ: Anson Resources conducting sample testing ahead of April lithium carbonate production
First production of lithium carbonate is expected in April 2018.
This process sequencing will consist of extracting the boron and magnesium followed by the production of lithium carbonate.
Progressing towards feasibility study
In addition to producing lithium carbonate, the bench-top test work is also expected to produce other marketable minerals.
These could include boron, bromine, iodine and magnesium, which may provide additional revenue for the project.
The results of the bench top pilot plant will be used in the design of an in-field pilot plant, before moving to further drilling, feasibility study, and ultimately full-scale production.
The in-field pilot plant is intended to be a key part of a feasibility study to validate the process designed and tested in the laboratory scale bench-top plant.