Technical Report on the Cauchari Project
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
TECHNICAL REPORT ON THE CAUCHARI PROJECT JUJUY PROVINCE, ARGENTINA NI 43-101 REPORT PREPARED FOR OROCOBRE LTD. Level 1, 349 Coronation Drive, Milton, Queensland 4064, Australia. BY JOHN HOUSTON CONSULTING HYDROGEOLOGIST BSc., MSc., C.Geol., FGS, FCIWEM April 30, 2010 CONTENTS OF THE TECHNICAL REPORT 3. SUMMARY............................................................................................................................ 7 4. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 9 4.1. Authorship and Terms of Reference ................................................................................ 9 4.2. The uniqueness of brine prospects ................................................................................... 9 5. RELIANCE ON OTHER EXPERTS ................................................................................... 10 6. PROPERTY LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION................................................................ 11 6.1. Location.......................................................................................................................... 11 6.2. Exploration and exploitation licences ............................................................................ 11 6.2.1. Types of licences and co-ordinate system .............................................................. 11 6.2.2. Standing of licences................................................................................................ 13 6.2.3. The Cauchari tenement package............................................................................. 13 6.3. Environmental Liabilities............................................................................................... 13 6.4. Permits............................................................................................................................ 13 7. ACCESSIBILITY, CLIMATE, LOCAL RESOURCES, INFRASTRUCTURE AND PHYSIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................ 15 7.1. Accessibility, Local resources and Infrastructure .......................................................... 15 7.2. Physiography.................................................................................................................. 16 7.3. Climate ........................................................................................................................... 19 7.3.1. Rainfall.................................................................................................................... 19 7.3.2. Temperature............................................................................................................ 20 7.3.3. Wind........................................................................................................................ 20 7.3.4. Evaporation............................................................................................................. 21 7.4. Vegetation ......................................................................................................................21 7.4.1. Low lying areas in the vicinity of water ................................................................. 22 7.4.2. Mixed Steppes......................................................................................................... 22 7.4.3. Bushy Steppes......................................................................................................... 22 8. HISTORY ............................................................................................................................. 23 8.1. Pre-Orocobre.................................................................................................................. 23 8.2. Orocobre exploration ..................................................................................................... 23 9. GEOLOGICAL SETTING................................................................................................... 24 9.1. Regional ......................................................................................................................... 24 9.1.1. Jurassic-Cretaceous................................................................................................. 24 9.1.2. Paleogene................................................................................................................ 24 2 9.1.3. Neogene .................................................................................................................. 25 9.1.4. Late Neogene-Quaternary....................................................................................... 27 9.2. The Cauchari Basin........................................................................................................ 27 10. DEPOSIT TYPE................................................................................................................ 31 11. MINERALIZATION......................................................................................................... 32 12. EXPLORATION ............................................................................................................... 34 12.1. Geochemical Surveys ................................................................................................. 34 12.2. Geophyscical Surveys ................................................................................................ 34 12.3. Gravity........................................................................................................................ 35 12.3.1. Data Acquisition.................................................................................................. 35 12.3.2. Data processing ................................................................................................... 36 12.3.3. Gravity data modelling and interpretation .......................................................... 37 12.4. Audio magnetotelluric................................................................................................ 40 12.4.1. Data acquisition................................................................................................... 40 12.4.2. Data Processing and Modelling .......................................................................... 41 12.4.3. Model output and interpretation.......................................................................... 41 13. DRILLING AND RELATED ACTIVITIES..................................................................... 43 14. SAMPLING METHOD AND APPROACH..................................................................... 44 14.1. Brine Sample Program Design ................................................................................... 44 14.2. Cauchari pit sampling................................................................................................. 44 14.3. Brine Sampling Supervision....................................................................................... 45 14.4. Sample Security.......................................................................................................... 45 15. SAMPLE PREPARATION, ANALYSES AND SECURITY.......................................... 46 15.1. Sample Preparation..................................................................................................... 46 15.2. Sample Analyses ........................................................................................................ 46 15.3. Quality Control........................................................................................................... 47 15.3.1. Relative percentage difference evaluation .......................................................... 47 15.3.2. Standard Analyses............................................................................................... 47 13.3.3 Sample Duplicate/Replicate Analyses.................................................................... 48 15.4. Quality Control Conclusions ...................................................................................... 51 16. DATA VERIFICATION ................................................................................................... 53 16.1. General ....................................................................................................................... 53 16.2. Assay data................................................................................................................... 53 16.3. Geological data........................................................................................................... 53 3 16.4. Survey data ................................................................................................................. 53 17. ADJACENT PROPERTIES .............................................................................................. 54 17.1. General comments...................................................................................................... 54 17.2. Adjacent properties..................................................................................................... 54 17.3. El Fenix lithim brine producer – Hombre Muerto Salar ............................................ 57 17.4. Borate mineralization ................................................................................................. 57 18. MINERAL PROCESSING AND METALLURGICAL TESTING ................................. 58 18.1. Aspects relating to the water balance and brine