Galan Lithium (ASX:GLN) recently revealed that its Hombre Muerto West (HMW) project in Argentina now boasts a “world-class” resource of 6.6 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) at 880 milligrams per litre (mg/l) lithium. The company reports that this is the third major resource upgrade for the project in the past three years, with 72% of the new estimate falling into the higher “measured” category.

The HMW project, which initially had a resource of 1.08 million tonnes LCE at 946 mg/l lithium in March 2020, now stands at 6.6 million tonnes LCE at 880 mg/l lithium. Combined with the company’s Candelas resource, Galan Lithium’s holdings provide a solid foundation for its four-stage lithium production target of up to 60,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) LCE.

Galan Lithium’s Managing Director, Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega, said that the company’s latest resource upgrade supports its goal of commencing commercial production as soon as possible. With plans for a 20,000-tpa lithium carbonate production facility and a mine life of over 40 years, the company expects to achieve an EBITDA of US$287 million (AU$432.2 million) per annum by 2025.

Currently, Galan is constructing a 4,000-tpa lithium carbonate pilot plant facility to help guide its broader project parameters. The company considers its HMW and nearby Candelas lithium brine projects as world-class, given their high-grade, low-impurity lithium brine deposits.

The Hombre Muerto region in Argentina is home to established lithium brine operations like Livent Corporation’s El Fenix, Allkem’s Sal de Vida, and POSCO’s Sal de Oro as well as junior miners such as Lithium South Development & Alpha Lithium . Galan’s next move is to conduct further exploration to consolidate its expansion tenements and potentially increase its resources even more. New production wells are anticipated to be completed by the end of this year.