One DLE Platform, Five Salars, and a Race Against the Clock

Summit Explore and Power Minerals plan to develop five Argentine brine salars under one DLE technology framework

9 Jun 2026

Two junior mining companies signed a term sheet on March 23 to jointly develop five high-altitude brine salars in Argentina's Salta province, combining 147 square kilometres of concessions under one direct lithium extraction framework an arrangement analysts said has no precedent at this scale in the Lithium Triangle.

Under the proposed structure, Summit Explore Corporation earns a 59 percent joint venture interest by committing up to $6 million in first-year development work, which covers resource drilling, water well installation, brine sampling, and a preliminary feasibility study prepared to international standards. Power Minerals retains 41 percent across all five assets: Incahuasi, Rincon, Pocitos, Pular, and Arizaro. Summit Explore also holds an outright acquisition option exercisable at $50 million.

Binding the arrangement together is Summit Nanotech's patented denaLi™ platform, built around its eLivate™ sorbent. The technology extracts lithium ions directly from brine at high selectivity while bypassing evaporation ponds, the water-intensive and time-consuming method that has long defined South American lithium production. Brine from each salar would first pass through Summit's rapid-validation plant in Santiago, generating site-specific engineering data at substantially lower cost than conventional pilots.

Yet the deal carries real execution risk. Regulatory and environmental approvals across five high-altitude concessions will add administrative complexity, and a 90-day window to convert the non-binding term sheet into a definitive agreement leaves the partnership's structure unsettled. Officials have not confirmed a timeline for approvals.

Still, the logic is deliberate. Spreading fixed development costs across a blended, multi-salar resource base could make battery-grade lithium production economically viable at a scale individual junior explorers rarely reach. Argentina's recent RIGI investment reforms have renewed confidence in Salta's brine sector, according to company statements, and the Salta Lithium Project reflects that renewed momentum. If a binding agreement follows, the results could reshape how smaller operators approach DLE deployment across the region in the years ahead.