Exploration Summary

Lithium Americas has done an extensive amount of detailed exploration work in defining a NI 43-101 resource estimate.  An exploration summary is provided below.  For a detailed understanding of the Company’s exploration program, please refer to the December 6, 2010 NI 43-101 Technical Report by clicking on the following link:
Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource Estimation of Lithium and Potassium at the Cauchari and Olaroz Salars, Jujuy Province, Argentina (PDF)

Drilling Summary:

  • Diamond Drill Boreholes (DDH) to reconstruct the geology of the basin
  • 29 DDHs for total drilling of 5,713m
  • DDH depths range from 79m to 449.5m
  • Reverse Circulation Boreholes (RC) to evaluate brine composition
  • 24 RCs plus 2 twin holes for total drilling of 4,176m
  • RC depths range from 28m to 371m

Sampling Summary:

  • 832 rock samples tested for porosity estimations (brine release capacity)
  • 2,390 brine samples

Geophysics Summary:

  • 62.5km of detailed seismic tomography to reconstruct the basin
  • 25km of gravity geophysics to measure the bottom of the basin
  • 12.5km of Time Domain Electromagnetic

NI 43-101 Resource Estimate

Lithium Americas’ Cauchari-Olaroz project is the 3rd largest known lithium brine resource in the world.  A summary of the resource estimate is highlighted in the table below.  The Company has used a cumulative cut-off grade of 500 mg/L in keeping with best practices.

Lithium Resource Estimate
  Average Concentration Mass Cumulated Brine Volume
Li (mg/L) Li (tonne) Li2CO3 (tonne) (m³)
Measured 656 546,300 2,884,000 8.09 x 108
Indicated 637 458,300 2,420,000 7.20 x 108
TOTAL   1,004,600 5,304,000  
Inferred 603 512,800 2,708,000 8.50 x 108
 
Potash Resource Estimate
  Average Concentration Mass Cumulated Brine Volume
K (g/L) K (tonne) KCl (tonne) (m³)
Measured 5.9 4,912,000 9,382,000 8.09 x 108
Indicated 5.7 4,121,000 7,871,000 7.20 x 108
TOTAL   9,033,000 17,253,000  
Inferred 4.9 4,264,000 8,144,000 8.50 x 108