Galan Lithium Limited (ASX:GLN) Managing Director Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega provides an update on the company's activities, discussing recent activity at the Hombre Muerto West project, the company's ESG traceability initiative and expected milestones.Lauren Evans: Hi. This is Lauren Evans for the Finance News Network. Joining me from Galan Lithium
(ASX:GLN) is Managing Director Juan Pablo Vargas De La Vega. JP, welcome back, and it's nice to meet you.
Juan Pablo Vargas De La Vega: Well, thanks for bringing me back, Lauren. And it's good to be here again.
Lauren Evans: So, your key project is the Hombre Muerto lithium brine project in the lithium triangle in Catamarca, Argentina. What makes it stand out?
Juan Pablo Vargas De La Vega: What makes it stand out is high grade, low impurities, as something rarely found now these days in Argentina. And we also have substantial funding to develop our studies and advance our projects all the way to pretty much the funding required for execution. So, we have 60 million plus and, further to that, we've got a fantastic team with a good board. I would like to say that this is the last available project that is 100 per cent on its own that can develop a production profile with security and a low risk in development.
Lauren Evans: Thanks, JP. So, could you tell us more, starting with the recent activity?
Juan Pablo Vargas De La Vega: Yesterday, we had an announcement indicating that we received the permits to move forward with our power plant and camp Hombre Muerto West. We already have a camp at Candelas. And having the power plant permits for us is massive because we can have, down the track, hard data that will be feeding into the DFS. And that study should be complete by the end of next year. So, it puts the company on track to development and to production. We also announced not long ago that we are drilling for reserves. We put in bore wells in Hombre Muerto West. Everything is moving there. We are accelerating the work that we are doing. We may be bringing a second rig or another company to expedite all the work that we are doing outside. So, the funding is there. We are executing. We know that we can evaporate. And this is very exciting for where it can take us.
Lauren Evans: And could you tell us more about the ESG traceability initiative?
Juan Pablo Vargas De La Vega: In mid-September, we announced that we signed an agreement with Circulor. Circulor is one of the leading companies today. They've got traceabilities here in Australia, Germany, Singapore. And what we want to show is our product is not only technically feasible, but it also could be one of the greenest one out there because we've got really good grades. We hope that we can apply everything that we know to have the lowest impact in our operation.
Lauren Evans: And could you comment on your Greenbushes project in Western Australia?
Juan Pablo Vargas De La Vega: We have a joint venture with Lithium Australia for 80/20 south of the Greenbushes mine, which is called the Greenbushes South joint venture. Now we have the funding to go and explore the grant, and we expect to advance the current work that we are doing. We are currently taking soil samples and rock samples and running first-pass geophysics. And we expect to drill the area some time next year. We are waiting for all the approval processes to happen and to convert some of our tenements into exploration grants. But it's all very exciting. It could be a bit of a wild card. It's early days, but the arrows are pointing in a very interesting direction.
Lauren Evans: So, now to your capital raising. What will this allow Galan to achieve this year and next?
Juan Pablo Vargas De La Vega: The funding that we completed a couple of weeks ago allows to do DFS for Hombre Muerto West, as I explained. Expecting to have that by the end of next year. The same will go for Candelas a bit further into the future. Probably give another six months beyond that. And also, we'll be able to finance all the exploration activities currently happening at the Greenbushes South joint venture that we have here in Western Australia.
Lauren Evans: Is there anything else that you'd like to add today, JP?
Juan Pablo Vargas De La Vega: Yes. Galan is a company that has done things step by step. We have a low-risk view in our development and we take conventional technology. We will show that we have one of the greenest credentials out there, but with proven technology and minimise the impact that we can have into the environment. But we want to deliver on time, on budget. And we believe that we are going to get there. And to show that we can produce our brine that becomes lithium, that becomes a battery down the track for all the electrification that the world needs today. And which is a fantastic story to be part of, and we are proud of it.
Lauren Evans: Well, thanks so much for the update, and we look forward to hearing from you again before the end of the year.
Juan Pablo Vargas De La Vega: Well, thanks very much, Lauren.
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