Wealth Minerals Ltd. reports it has entered into a cooperation and development agreement (the “Agreement”) with Thyssenkrupp Mining Technologies GmbH , whereby the two societies have formed a strategic partnership for the development of the Company’s Ollagüe Salar Lithium exploration project located in northern Chile. Under the Strategic Partnership, Wealth Minerals and thyssenkrupp Mining Technologies will collaborate to:
- Identify, evaluate and select the most beneficial and environmentally sustainable processing technology for lithium extraction and purification treatment for the Ollagüe Project,
- Develop the Ollagüe Project from the exploration stage through to commercial scale production capacity of high-purity lithium products, and
- Define new standards in green mining and foster the involvement of local communities in Chile.
The long-term goal of this Strategic Partnership is to collaborate toward the advancement of the Project along its development stages and, if warranted, progress the Project to production.
The first stage of the Strategic Partnership will entail the identification, evaluation and selection of technology for lithium extraction and purification for the Project. The development of the preliminary flowsheet and layouts, including brine testing and the set-up of a pilot plant, will complete the first stage of the Strategic Partnership. Each stage of the Strategic Partnership is designed to adhere to the highest ESG standards and focuses on cooperation with local communities. The end goal of the Strategic Partnership is to establish the Project as a leading benchmark of green mining in lithium brine resource development.
“We are proud to be the chosen cooperation partner for this project and to be trusted to support Wealth Minerals with their transition from explorer to developer. Building on our historically strong mining and engineering experience we will set a new standard in green mining with this partnership“, says Jan Lüder, CEO of Thyssenkrupp Mining Technologies.
Marcelo A. Awad, Wealth Minerals’ Executive Director in Chile, underlines these standards’ significance and the important role of thyssenkrupp Mining Technologies in achieving them, states: “Traditional evaporation production methods are not an option for us in this project. Our aim is to live up to the highest sustainable standards and to minimize the impact on the environment. Thyssenkrupp Mining Technologies, with its wealth of experience and know-how, will help us achieve this.”
Henk van Alphen, CEO at Wealth Minerals, added: “When choosing a strategic partner, it was particularly important to us that it is an industry partner with a strong technical background and rich expertise in engineering. We are therefore all the happier to have gained such a partner in Thyssenkrupp Mining Technologies.”