January 11, 2023 - Vancouver, British Columbia. Indigo Exploration Inc. (the “Company”) (TSX-V: IXI, FSE: INE) is pleased to announce it has doubled its land position in central Alberta, Canada covering significant subsurface Devonian reef reservoir aquifers with the potential to produce large volumes of lithium-bearing formation brine. The Company’s permits recently granted by Alberta Department of Energy now total 147,904 hectares (147.9 km2 or 365,479 acres) in three key areas of higher lithium brines and adjacent to permits held by E3 Lithium Ltd., LithiumBank Resources Corp., and Highwood Asset Management (see Figures 1, 2 and 3).
Mr. Bradley Parkes, who joined the Board of Directors, became interim VP Exploration in October 2022 and has extensive experience in oil and gas exploration, states: “Our strategy of permit selection is balancing geological theory with:
1) adequate stand-alone project size,
2) excellent widespread well infrastructure for brine testing and sampling purposes,
3) proximal to wells recording lithium brine levels between 72 and 130mg/l,
4) over portions of the reef that are most prospective for lithium brine and better porosity. Our permits are deliberately chosen on the edges of reefs which tend to have higher porosity. This would imply better reservoir flow productivity than in reef crests. “
Figure 1: Company Permit Areas and Extent of Li-rich formation water in west-central Alberta (after D.R. Eccles1 and H. Berhane – Alberta Geologic Survey)
Figure 2: Fox Creek Lithium Brine Project (Indigo Permits in purple)
Figure 3: Leduc-Legal Lithium Brine Project (Indigo Permits in purple)
The acquired permits are in proximity to wells recording lithium brine levels between 72 and 130mg/l from the Leduc Carbonate Reef complex Woodbend Group and the underlying Beaverhill Lake Group rock. The aquifers in these units historically have been known to host the highest grades of lithium-in-brine in Alberta.
The recent Indigo permits increase its land positions in the Fox Creek and Leduc-Legal areas. There are over 700 wells that have been drilling on the Indigo permit areas. These 700 wells of various status, from producing to abandoned, penetrate the Mississippian or Devonian Formations across the Indigo permits. This well dataset is being evaluated to select the most suitable wells to conduct a comprehensive sampling program planned to start in the first quarter of 2023.
Lithium, Lithium Brines and Alberta
Global wave of demand for lithium is accelerating with the need for energy storage solutions, particularly for the electric vehicle industry. The demand for electric vehicles which require a significant amount of lithium is creating such a large market that lithium supply shortages are forecasted even this decade. This growing demand provides an opportunity for Alberta with its mature oil fields which also hold large deposits of lithium in subsurface brine. Considered an industrial waste from oil field operations, new technologies are being developed to tap into and extract Alberta’s lithium-brine potential from many of the same oil and gas reservoirs. These recent technological advancements position Alberta to potentially become a major lithium producer. Couple this with the abundance of existing geological data and infrastructure to access these reservoirs and a highly trained workforce, Alberta can capitalize on its lithium production potential.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
“Paul Cowley”,
President and CEO
For further information, please contact: Paul Cowley: (604) 340-7711
Website: www.indigoexploration.com
Bradley Parkes, P.Geo., Interim VP Exploration and Director of Indigo Exploration Inc., is the Qualified Person as defined in
National Instrument 43-101, who has read and approved the technical content of this news release.
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