The Sua Pan Project
A Battery Metal Destination in Africa
The Sua Pan is one of the largest salt pans in the world, forming part of the Makgadikgadi Pan complex in northeastern Botswana. This expansive, flat, and arid terrain is the remnant of an ancient lake that dried up thousands of years ago, leaving behind vast salt deposits.
Its remote location and stark beauty make it a unique destination, accessible via major routes connecting Botswana’s central and northern regions. The pan also plays a role in the local economy through its salt and soda ash mining operations.
The Sua Pan Project
The Sua Pan Project
- Three recently granted prospecting licences covering 2,517 km2 over the eastern region of the Makgadikgadi Pans in northern Botswana. Main target commodity is lithium hosted in near-surface brines.
- Lithium brine deposits are accumulations of saline groundwater that are enriched in dissolved lithium that form in a closed-basin system. Historical data reported in a 1980’s study of the Sua Pan brines by the US Trade and Development Program indicated anomalous Lithium values.
- Samples collected from the northern area of Sua Pan returned values of 103, 117 and 223 mg/l Li (the source and precise location is unknown). Recent processing developments such as Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) reducing carbon, time, and costs. DLE uses a resin or adsorption material to extract only lithium, while spent brine is reinjected into the basin aquifers with no aquifer depletion or harm to the environment.
Sua Pan : Reported Highlights
Sedimentary Hosted Copper & Lithium Brine
- Licences are held by 90% Aterian owned Atlantis Metals (Pty) Ltd, a private Botswana registered company. 7 prospecting licences covering 1,969 km2 located in the world-renowned Kalahari Copperbelt (“KCB”).
- March 2024, China’s MMG Ltd acquired the Khoemacau Copper Mine in the KCB for US$ 1.73 billion. 3 prospecting licences covering 2,517 km2, located east and south of Sua Pan, part of the Makgadikgadi Pans.
- The Department of Mines designates the administrative area covering the Makgadikgadi as a Lithium Zone (online mining cadastre). Licences are located close to infrastructure, mining operations and areas of active mineral exploration.
