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It’s another happy tick on Jurie Wessels’ checklist.
Arcadia Minerals’ Executive Chairman has been passionate about exploration for over 24 years. He quit his job as a lawyer to dedicate himself full-time to exploring metals and minerals. Together with his team, they focus on the exploration of battery metals — lithium in particular.
Initial observations of raw data from a recent regional electromagnetic survey over the Bitterwasser lithium brine project have identified several large geophysical anomalies that are hinting towards highly conductive aqueous brine pools.
The most prominent geophysical feature is 42 kilometres long and 9 kilometres wide.
The uninterpreted raw geophysical data confirms the existence of a closed sub-surface basin and, according to Arcadia Minerals, represents the geological requirements for the concentration of brines containing lithium.
Mr Wessels is delighted with this discovery.
“When I saw the anomaly, it was just another tick box to check, as we did earlier in this project. It points in the direction of something significant, and I’m very excited about the prospect of drilling it,” he said.
In the process, the Australia-based company has focused entirely on Namibia. It is here in South West Africa that Arcadia Minerals concentrates on the exploration of tantalum, lithium, nickel, copper and gold.
According to Mr Wessels, Arcadia Minerals only became aware of the Bitterwasser area after intensive preliminary work and detailed testing.
“We knew that worldwide the lithium brines are in basins. That is where you have to start,” he said.
“You’ve got to find the basin and the first tell-tale sign is a pan. So, we went across entire southern Africa — Botswana, Namibia and South Africa — and we tested all the pans and took samples there.
“The Bitterwasser area was the only place where anomalous lithium content was in the pans. So we knew there was concentration happening there. And this is exactly what we saw happen in America as well: the Nevada basin was discovered in the same way.”
The Bitterwasser Project covers an area of over 3400 kilometres and consists of two projects: the Bitterwasser Lithium-in-Brine and Lithium-in-Clay projects.
“The Bitterwasser Lithium-in-Brine, the one that is at the bottom (of the basin), that’s the one which we are focused on: because that will put us at the same level as companies in Nevada or in the Lithium triangle if we confirm that there is lithium in the brine,” Mr Wessels said.
“We have to first explore it, as you know, and confirm that it has got lithium in economic quantities. But the fact that it is there, that is a culmination of many years of exploration: first looking at the pans, then finding the right basin, then determining that there is geothermal activity – because that is a requirement for these basins, seeing that the evaporation is more than the precipitation.”
The next steps are already in full swing. Arcadia Minerals’ consulting geophysicists are currently interpreting and modelling the electromagnetic survey results to identify drilling targets in the Bitterwasser area.
Mr Wessels expects to receive the results of the geophysical survey in February. Initial drilling could then start in March or April. He and his team are looking forward to the drilling with excitement.
“Very shortly we will know whether this is a new province of lithium in the world, or whatever we will see where it goes.”
The full interview with Jurie Wessels (in English), including photos and videos from the Bitterwasser lithium brine project, can be found above this article.
