Altamin expands geothermal license area in Lazio, Italy
Campagnano di Roma, Rome, Italy (source: Vessia Matteo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Carlo Cariaga
27 Feb 2024
Australian mining company Altamin has expanded the area of the Lazio geothermal and lithium project in Italy with the awarding of four new exploration licenses.
Australian listed mining company Altamin has announced the expansion of the Project Area of the Lazio geothermal and lithium project in the Lazio Region in Italy, located around 30 kilometers north of Rome. This comes with the awarding of four new Exploration Licenses (EL), effectively increasing the Lazio Project Area by 500%.
With now a total of six Exploration Licenses, the Lazio Project Area covers 11,086 hectares in an area known for its geothermal potential. Notably, the new ELs include the Cesano 1 (C1) production well and the Cesano 5 (C5) injection well that were used by Enel for extensive pilot-scale testing. Preliminary test done at C1 indicated that the field had anomalously high levels of dissolved minerals.
Application for the new ELs was initiated after a positive reservoir assessment done by Italian geothermal consultants STEAM Srl on the Campagnano and Galeria ELs. These ELs had been applied for by Altamin back in 2022. The detailed study and geological modeling done by STEAM supported the high potential of the resource for geothermal energy and the elevated levels of lithium, potassium, and boron contained in the brine.
The area contains a number of volcanic pipe(s) that act as traps allowing brines to re-circulate, resulting in potentially higher grades of contained mineral enrichment in the brines, including lithium, potassium and boron, which were intersected by drilling at depths from 1390m to 2700m below the surface.
Altamin subsidiary Energia Minerals had also previously engaged with UK-based Watercycle Technologies to evaluate the use of Direct Lithium Extraction and Crystallization (DLEC) technology selectively extract lithium from sub-surface brine.
Complementing the work done by STEAM and Watercycle Technologies, Altamin has now initiated a concept study with German mineral brine extraction expert K-Utec to evaluate the recovery of sulphate of potash (SOP) from potassium dissolved in the geothermal brine. This endeavor explores another potential revenue stream for the geothermal and lithium project.
Source: ASX Announcement from Altamin
