Vancouver, British Columbia / TheNewswire / April 10, 2017 - Wealth Minerals Ltd. (the "Company" or "Wealth") - (TSXV: WML; OTCQB: WMLLF; SSE: WMLCL; Frankfurt: EJZN), reports that it has received preliminary data from the bathymetric survey being conducted at the Laguna Verde Lithium Project in Chile ("Laguna Verde" or the "Project") in connection with its previously announced lake-brine sampling and project evaluation program (the "Work Program"), see news release dated March 31, 2017.
New Bathymetric Data
The Company has received preliminary results from the contractor it has engaged to conduct the bathymetric survey at Laguna Verde. This data shows that the maximum depth of the lake is approximately 6.0m with a mean depth of approximately 3.5m. Company representatives have completed a site visit to verify the new bathymetric data and have found the data to be accurate. Previous operators at Laguna Verde reported that the lake was up to 60m in depth with a mean depth of 33m and this data was included in a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") technical report dated May 5, 2010 and prepared for Pan American Lithium Corp (the "2010 Report"). The data was referenced by the Company in news releases dated December 19, 2016 and March 31, 2017.
Water sampling has begun on the Project and samples will be despatched to the Tenova Advanced Technologies (a division of Tenova S.p.A.) laboratory for analysis as soon as sampling has been completed, including a 50 liter lake-brine sample.
Conventional Brine Exploration
Publically available geophysical and geological data has been acquired by the Company which has allowed the Company to define a conventional lithium brine target, similar to the Company's exploration target at the Atacama Project, underlying Laguna Verde. The data was collected for Barrick and Kinross and filed in December 2010 as part of an Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") for an unrelated mineral project. The EIA and its data cover two regional drainage basins and include Wealth's Laguna Verde Project. The data of interest is a gravity survey (Figure 1) and the resulting geological section (Figure 2), both of which traverse the Laguna Verde property.
Gravity Survey Data
The gravity profile was collected by a Chilean geophysical consulting company called Geodatos S.A.I.C and reported in September 2010. The purpose of the survey was to determine the depth to basement and the accuracy of modeled results were improved by using measured densities from drill core collected within the study area. This approach is understood to result in the best possible accuracy of the gravity models.
A total of seven gravity profiles were collected as part of the greater survey and the profile, which traverses the Laguna Verde Project, was completed with 37 measurement stations (Figure 1). All details of the survey including equipment used, survey specifications, data processing and modelling are included in the detailed EIA report.
Figure 1: Location of gravity data collection profile relative to Laguna Verde and results of the gravity model which predicts a basin fill sediment thickness of 500m.
Geological Interpretation
The geological cross sections were prepared by SRK Consulting as part of the same EIA project. The geological interpretation utilizes a variety of information including geological mapping at surface and the gravity data interpretation described above (Figure 1). The geological cross section (Figure 2) transects Wealth's Laguna Verde Project. The interpreted section suggests that approximately 500m of basin fill exists underlying the current footprint of Laguna Verde, comprising recent sediments such as sand, gravel, clastic sediments and felsic volcanic material, all capped by a layer of ignimbrite (pumice-dominated pyroclastic flow).
Figure 2: Interpreted Geological Cross Section through Laguna Verde
Implications
The results of the bathymetric survey at Laguna Verde demonstrate that the lake is considerably shallower than reported in the 2010 Report. While this new information reduces the potential lithium brine resource that can be defined within surface lake-brine, other publically available geophysical and geological information opens up a new conventional brine exploration target in the basin-filling sediments underlying the lake. This target type is similar to the Company's exploration target at the Atacama Lithium Project, where aquifer-hosted brines are being targeted in the sediments underlying the property. The existence of surface lake-brines together with potential aquifer-hosted brines at depth expands the total scope of the Project and the exploration work that may be completed thereon.
Expanded Work Program
The Laguna Verde Work program will now be expanded to include geophysical surveys to evaluate the potential for a thick basin fill underlying Laguna Verde and the potential for those sediments to host lithium brines. Additional gravity surveying will be combined with a Transient Electromagnetic ("TEM") survey. Both surveys will begin as soon as possible in Q2 (Figure 3). Assuming that geophysical results justify continued work, drilling will be required to test for the existence of underlying lithium brines. Preparation of a NI 43-101 technical report for the Company regarding the Project will be delayed to include the results of work on both surface lake-brines and underlying conventional aquifer-brines.
Figure 3: Expanded Work Program at Laguna Verde. Additional work highlighted in red.
Qualified Person
Mr. Keith Henderson, PGeo, is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Henderson has reviewed the scientific and technical information that forms the basis of this news release and has approved the disclosure herein.
About Wealth Minerals Ltd.
Wealth is a mineral resource company with interests in Canada, Mexico, Peru and Chile. The Company's main focus is the acquisition of lithium projects in South America. To date, the Company has positioned itself to develop the Aguas Calientes Norte, Pujsa and Quisquiro Salars in Chile (the Trinity Project), as well as to work alongside existing producers in the prolific Atacama Salar, in addition to its recently announced Laguna Verde lithium project acquisition. The Company continues to aggressively pursue new acquisitions in the region. Lithium market dynamics and a rapidly increasing metal price are the result of profound structural issues with the industry meeting anticipated future demand. Wealth is positioning itself to be a major beneficiary of this future mismatch of supply and demand. The Company also maintains and continues to evaluate a portfolio of precious and base metal exploration-stage projects.
