Anson Resources applies to drill two production wells within Paradox Brine Project in Utah

Anson Resources Ltd (ASX:ASN) has submitted an Application Permit to Drill (APD) two production wells covering a total area of 6.56 acres within the Paradox Brine Project in Utah, US to the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) of the Government of Utah and the Department of Gas and Minerals (DOGM). Notably, these two production bores are on "The Little Utah" lease, which covers 80 acres and was granted to Anson by the Utah State government earlier this year.  It is expected that Anson’s application will be considered by both SITLA and DOGM by the end of Q3 2021, however this timeline may be affected by delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Advancing towards production Anson executive chairman Bruce Richardson said: “Our application to drill two production wells at Paradox represents a major step towards commencing production. “These production wells will provide a significant insight into the engineering and logistics of the Paradox operation, with location of the wells carefully considered and nearby to the lithium bromine plant to be built at Blue Hills. “By leveraging the pressure created by Robert’s Rupture, Anson can transport the brine to a location which has easy access to power, gas and transportation without pumping which has a direct impact upon production costs. “In addition, the location of the wells provides access to an existing pipeline corridor where ground disturbance has already occurred. “Our application has been carefully considered and designed to ensure minimal ground disturbance in the area in which we operate.” Location of the production bores in relation to the pipeline corridor to be used to transport brine to production site. Background The Little Utah Mineral Lease (ML-54099) abuts existing leased area administered by the Federal government, Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and forms part of the 1,082 unpatented placer claims of the project area. These production wells, while located on the same 80 acres block, are separated by distance to ensure that the flow rates are not affected and to take advantage of well understood geological features. Engineering work has been completed to calculate the flow rates to surface with sufficient pressure to flow the brine from the production well to the planned lithium/bromine plant at Blue Hills. By taking advantage of the abnormally high pressure as a result of a geological event that created Robert’s Rupture, it is expected that the brine will not need to be pumped from the well or pumped to the Blue Hills bromine lithium plant 30 miles from the point of extraction. This is expected to impact favourably on production costs. The location of the production wells has also been selected for their close proximity to the existing pipeline corridor, which Anson plans to access to transport the brine to the lithium/bromine plant. Additional data collection Anson says drilling of the wells will result in a large amount of additional data being collected, such as clastic unit thicknesses and core of the brine bearing horizons which can be used to upgrade the JORC Resource figures and classifications. Coring of the relevant clastic horizons will enable porosity and specific yield values to be determined, and along with assaying and flow testing of the brines would increase the area of influence (AOI) surrounding the re-entered wells. Information on all the Clastic Zone horizons intersected can be collected and reviewed for future use, whether it be for extra brine supply or possible use for brine disposal.