Anson has been granted an Underground Injection Control (UIC) application for Class V wells to dispose of the processed brine at its Green River Lithium Project,
The Utah Department of Environmental Quality has granted the application after a public comment consideration,
The disposal wells will be located on Blackstone Minerals purchased private property,
Application is based on production of 10,000 Li2CO3 tons/annum,
Application applies for the development of 4 disposal wells,
Conditions for Class V disposal wells include:
Brine must be returned to the same Formation it was extracted from, not necessarily from the same horizon as extraction (resulting in no dilution),
Volume and geochemistry of disposed brine must be like that of extracted brine,
These requirements are met using the Direct Lithium Extraction.
NEWPORT BEACH, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 29, 2024 / Anson Resources Limited (ASX:ASN) (Anson or the Company) through its 100% owned subsidiary Blackstone Mineral NV LLC is pleased to announce that its Underground Injection Control (UIC) application has been approved by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Water Quality for its Green River Lithium Project (Project), in the Paradox Basin in south-eastern Utah, USA. The Division of Water Quality has granted the application after its review and consideration of public comments. This UIC application will enable Blackstone to re-inject the spent brine from its Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) processing plant back into subsurface formations.
Anson is planning to drill new disposal wells, at the time of construction of the production plant, for the injection and disposal of the spent brine from its lithium extraction process as part of the development of the project into production. Several historical plugged and abandoned oil and gas wells are in the area and intersected similar brine reservoirs and confirmed the existence of horizons that had been encountered in the Green River area which can be used as the disposal zones. Some of these wells have already been converted into disposal wells which indicates the ability for those horizons to absorb the waste brine.
The disposal wells will be located on the private property recently purchased by Blackstone, see ASX Announcement 13 September 2023. When the lithium processing plant has reached its optimal production rate there will be four disposal wells in operation which have been included in the one application, see Figure 1.
The spent brine will be pumped via the injection wells into the Paradox Reservoirs, at shallower horizons into the most permeable rock formations reducing the required pumping pressure.
Archaeological, environmental and site surveys have been conducted over the proposed areas and these reports have already been submitted to the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining (UDOGM) as part of the drilling application. These surveys, which showed no issues with the already disturbed site, were carried out over the proposed production site, extraction and disposal well locations and surrounding areas. Access to these sites will be via county roads that exit the I70 interstate and already developed roads in existence in the Blackstone property resulting in minimal disturbance.
The UIC application was a detailed report and included:
Maps of the Area of Review (AOR) - 2-mile radius surrounding the proposed disposal wells,
Maps and cross sections of underground sources of drinking water (USDW),
Maps and cross sections of local geologic lithology, structures, and hydrologic settings,
Injection well construction plan and operational plan,
Corrective action plan,
Monitoring, recording and reporting plans,
Plugging and abandonment,
Financial Responsibility (reclamation).
Anson's research into the surrounding historic wells has shown that test-work, such as core sampling and flow testing, has been carried out on some of the wells which was suitable for use in providing additional information for the application. Drill Stem Tests were also carried out through some of these intervals which provides information such as porosity and permeability which will assist in the determination of the horizons to be used for disposal.
Executive Chairman and CEO Bruce Richardson commented, "This approval from the Government of the State of Utah demonstrates that Anson can continue to progress the project at Green River by following the regulatory process. Progress in the past 12 months at Green River has been much faster than that of the Paradox due to the ownership of the surface area and the support from the local and state government departments and representatives for which we are extremely grateful. The reinjection of the brine back into the geological formation from which it is originally extracted protects other minerals contained in the brine for future use. The Company continues to engage with the local community to ensure that the best options for the development of the project into production are selected. We look forward to an open dialogue with the community and government as the remaining permits are considered as we move closer to production."
Positive ESG Aspects
The drill program is designed to have as little impact on the environment, social and recreational activities as possible within the drill location areas which is further increased by carrying out the program on private property. There will be minimal new ground disturbance as the drill pads will be located on flat ground in areas that have already been disturbed.
The use of areas where there has already been ground disturbance is consistent with Anson's aim of developing a sustainable project and minimizing environmental impact.
Conservation of Water Aquifers
The exploration drilling program has been designed to ensure that there is no interaction between the surface waters and the supersaturated lithium brines with the well-being steel cased and cemented in place.
The majority of the water-yielding rock units in the area are part of either an upper or lower hydrologic system. The two systems are separated by the impermeable salt beds of the Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation, which underlies the counties in the region (Weir, Maxwell & Zimmerman, 1983) which is further supported by the salinity values intersected in this "surface" drilling recently completed by Anson.
