Mandrake Resources has commenced swabbing operations at the Evelyn Chambers #1 well to extract bulk lithium brine from existing perforations in the Mississippian Leadville Formation at the 100%-owned Utah Lithium Project.

Work at the well is supported in part by funding from a US$1 million federal grant awarded by the US Department of Energy to the Paradox Basin Lithium Group, whose members include Idaho National Laboratories, the National Laboratory of the Rockies, the University of Utah, and Mandrake Resources.

The existing perforations at Evelyn Chambers #1 were originally designed for depleted oil and gas extraction and are not optimised to selectively target modelled high-grade lithium concentrations within the Leadville Formation. While a purpose-drilled lithium brine well would enable more targeted extraction, it is estimated to cost approximately US$4 million. By contrast, utilising the existing well allows Mandrake to extract bulk brine volumes cost-effectively, transferring the material into storage totes for transport.

Approximately 10,000L of the extracted brine will be supplied to US firm Electroflow Technologies Inc. and other Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) providers. Electroflow operates a DLE demonstration plant in Utah and intends to use the material to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate and lithium iron phosphate. The technical and commercial appraisal will yield vital purity, recovery, and costing data.

Depending on well conditions, the ongoing swabbing operations will facilitate flow and pressure testing, chemical analysis over staged pumping periods, and reservoir deliverability assessments. Mandrake expects the output from this DLE appraisal and well testing to form the basis of forthcoming Scoping Studies for the project.

Read the full announcement: Bulk Brine Production Commences at Utah Lithium Project