Summit Nanotech, Power Minerals plan JV to accelerate lithium production in Argentina

Canada’s Summit Nanotech and Australia’s Power Minerals (ASX: PNN) have entered into a binding term sheet to jointly develop the Salar de Incahuasi lithium concession in Argentina.

In a press release, the companies said that the JV concession at the Salar de Incahuasi is part of an alluvial fan that has high-quality brines with consistent lithium concentrations and a low impurity profile. 

“This shallow, clean salar has the promising potential to contribute to ramping up the production of lithium from Argentina and is adjacent to assets owned by Allkem and Ganfeng Lithium,” says the release. “Incahuasi salar brines work seamlessly with Summit’s sustainable direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology, denaLiTM, which is a patented process that extracts lithium from brine using a proprietary sorbent and water recovery solution.”

The deal, thus, is aimed at combining Summit’s proprietary technology process with Power’s expertise in systematic exploration and project development to, eventually, deliver large volumes of high-quality lithium.

Under the agreement, Summit can earn a 30% stake in the joint venture by providing its technology and engineering expertise for pilot testing and funding US$3 million in exploration in two tranches. Summit can earn up to 45% by funding a feasibility study and providing a viable DLE process. If in addition, Summit meets certain performance targets, it can earn another 4.9% for up to 49.9% of the JV.

“We are delighted with our proposed relationship with Summit Nanotech to expedite the development of the Incahuasi salar, one of our core lithium brine assets within the Salta project area,” Power Minerals managing director, Mena Habib, said. “Having assessed a range of DLE technology options, we see Summit as the ideal partner to help us unlock and maximize the value of Incahuasi for the benefit of our shareholders.”

The Salta project comprises eight mining leases located in the Salta province of northwestern Argentina. The site covers 158.9 sq. km over seven different salt lakes with the potential for lithium brine occurrences.

According to Habib, the agreement with Summit marks Summit’s first of many potential similar arrangements through which his company will validate the performance of the DLE technology at scale for rapid future deployment at other lithium-rich salt flats in South America. 

“We’re excited to partner with Power Minerals, a like-minded company that shares our vision and commitment to sustainable development – together, we aim to ramp up lithium production with innovation and responsible mining practices,” Amanda Hall, founder and CEO of Summit Nanotech, said. “We are very confident in the differentiated ability of Summit’s technology to unlock this and other resources, effectively and more economically than any other DLE technology.”