Ollague, Carcote, Ascotan Salars

• The project is located in the eastern part of the Atacama Desert.
• Topography is mainly formed by Loa River, volcanic chain, and endorheic basins of salars de Ascotan, Carcote, and Ollague.
• The upper basin of Loa River is flanked on both sides by two longitudinal mountain ranges; the western flank is constituted by the Sierra del Medio with an approximate altitude of 4,500 meters.

• The eastern flank the continental divide formed by the Andes including: the Parumade Portezuelo mountain (5,582 meters above sea level), the Ollagüe volcano (5,868 meters asl), the Ascotán mountain (5,187 meters asl) and the Toconce mountain (5,411 meters asl).
• Climate is arid with average annual precipitation of 0.60 -0.85 mm.

Salar Ollague

Salar de Ollague: 187 km2 (basin area), 31 km2 (surface area in Chile)

Salar Carcote

Salar de Carcote : 561 km2 (basin area), 108 km2 (surface area)

Salar Ascotan

Salar de Ascotan: 1,757 km2 (basin area), 243 km2 (surface area)

• The salars of Ollague, Carcote and Ascotan correspond to continental saline deposits or salars with brines.
• The basin collects water from temporary streams in a catchment area of approximately 6,000 km2.
• Lithium (Li), potash (K), boron (B), sodium (Na) and magnesium (Mg), among others, are leached and transported from rocks in the catchment, and then accumulated and concentrated by evaporation in the Salars.
• Geology and hydrogeology extensively studied and investigated by SQM, Codelco and Chilean Geological Surveying.
• All three salars are terminal lakes with sediments intermixed with salt compounds, undersurface brine, and a surface crust composed primarily of gypsum and halite.
• Groundwater of the salars show characteristics of a typical brine observable a few meters below the surface.

Mineralization in the OCA Prospect is primarily represented by three different fractions:

• Liquid, represented mainly by chloride and sulfate brines.
• Dendritic material, consisting of sand, silt and clay intercalated in the salar sediments.
• Various precipitated salt compounds resulting from salts reaching respective solubility and concentration limits.
• Highly conductive zones discovered during two geophysics campaign are indicative of characteristics typically exhibited by mineralized saline aquifers of hydrogeological conditions of northern Chile.
• Preliminary hydrogeological modelling suggests a gradually increasing brine signature starting at approximately 200 meters beneath the surface with widths up to 400 meters reaching a consolidated lacustrine base or bedrock at approximately 600 meters at depth.

• The OCA Prospect is accessed from the town of Ollague, Chile via Highway 21 that connects Ollague with Calama (200km).
• The railway (The Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia, “FCAB”) forms a major transportation corridor between the port city of Antofagasta, Chile and the capital city of Bolivia, La Paz.
• Historically, primary traffic on the railway has been minerals such as lead-zinc concentrates, nitrates and copper. The railway passes close to the border of all three salars and has a depot and station in the town of Ollague. 
• Cerro Pabellon Geothermal Power Plant located approximately 10km south of the southern boarder of OCA prospect.
• Major copper mines in the vicinity of the project.