Canadian miner Sage Potash has established a new subsidiary in the US, Sage Lithium, to explore additional sources of revenue, with lithium-potassium-boron prospects announced at Paradox Basin in the US.
The main goal of Sage Lithium will be to carry out tests for lithium and other soluble saline minerals within the existing brine hosting strata of the company’s mineral lease portfolio.
Sage Lithium will operate in conjunction with Sage Potash, which has applied for authorisation to drill exploration wells to function as initial pilot production and brine disposal wells.
Simultaneously, the subsidiary will sample, test and analyse strata that are amenable to brine extraction for lithium, bromine and other soluble saline minerals.
It will operate as a stand-alone subsidiary for exploring mineral leases on 17,277 acres of private mineral and surface leases owned by Sage Potash.
The results were observed in oil, gas and potash wells drilled in the Paradox formation.
The records indicate a possibility of intersecting super-saturated brines, which comprise up to 40% minerals and 60% water across a diverse range of valuable minerals.
Sage Potash CEO Peter Hogendoorn said: “When we included ‘saline mineral rights’ in our initial private mineral leases, we didn’t realise at the time how much lithium interest would develop in the Paradox Basin/Lisbon Valley.
“Using SQM (Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile) as a model, which can be considered either the world’s lowest-cost lithium producer or potash producer, management believes there is a significant opportunity to leverage both the geology and its lease rights to add considerable shareholder value for multiple complementary mineral development streams, or as an eventual company spin-off.”
