Salt Lake Potash posts promising test results at Lake Wells

The AIM-traded company said the results “substantially enhance” the potential for production of sulphate of potash (SOP) by brine extraction and solar evaporation at the Lake Wells Project.

It confirmed more than 350km of ground based gravity and seismic surveys have been completed, providing the first detailed geophysical model of the Lake Wells paleovalley.

The model mapped the deepest parts of the paleovalley over approximately 100km within the project area, Salt Lake’s board said, with the target for the paleochannel aquifer likely to provide the best sites for brine extraction bores.

An aircore drill programme testing the paleochannel geophysical model along the northern fringes of the lake completed five holes, all of which validated the interpretation.

Salt Lake said three of those holes were on the northeastern fringe of the lake, testing the main trunk of the modelled paleochannel and encountering substantial widths of paleochannel sands, including two with very coarse sands and gravels.

A comprehensive, sustained pump test of one of the coarse sand and gravel zones confirmed production bores in that part of the aquifer should sustain brine extraction rates of up to 25 litres per second.

“We are again very pleased with our exploration results at Lake Wells, with a test pumping result which we believe is one of the highest quality and most comprehensive undertaken on an Australian salt lake,” said Salt Lake Potash CEO Matt Syme.

“The geophysical surveys and interpretation have produced a comprehensive model of Lake Wells to guide our future exploration work.

“As the first test pumping demonstrates, the model will allow us to find the most effective basis to extract Lake Wells' large brine resource and has already provided valuable input into the Scoping Study currently underway,” Syme explained.