SolarBio Energy is looking to increase the production of lithium by making plans to drill three holes to test newly identified targets at its Atacama lithium project in Chile.

Passive seismic and Titan magnetotelluric electromagnetic surveys had successfully identified a southern trending basin containing targets interpreted to represent potential lithium mineralised brines. SolarBio noted that the planned drill program benefits from its location just 20km from the 10 megawatt geothermal plant and close proximity to key interstate highways. An application for the three hole program totalling 1,850m will be lodged imminently.

“The results from the recently completed surveys at the Atacama Lithium salt flats in Chile are identifying three priority drill hole locations, the results have provided the company with an outstanding opportunity to progress another project concurrently with the sustainable development policies currently in place,” SolarBio CEO said.

Atacama Salt Flat is the biggest salt deposit in Chile. It has a rough white surface below which there is a large salt lake. The salt flat has a surface area of 750,000 acres. The lake under the salt flat has one of the largest lithium reserves in the world. This mineral is highly used in the technology industry, and it is exploited in the southern area of the flat.

Historical surface sampling acquired by the company returned values of up to 114.5 parts per million lithium. Its proximity to reliable, renewable energy and transportation also ticks off more boxes as they represent two of the largest costs for lithium brine projects.