Galan Lithium (ASX: GLN) has begun lithium brine processing at its flagship Hombre Muerto West (HMW) project in Argentina following the successful wet commissioning of the nanofiltration plant.
In a statement on Thursday, the Australian miner said the Phase 1 plant, completed in March 2026, has now processed its first lithium chloride after being fed with pre-concentrated brine with 0.5% lithium content.
The processed lithium chloride was then discharged into the final evaporation ponds, where water will be removed and contained lithium will be concentrated. This evaporation period is expected to take around three months, after which lithium chloride concentrates with 6% lithium content will be produced and sold under the company’s offtake arrangements.
The impurity separation performance, according to Galan, is so far consistent with the plant design specifications, based on chemical assays undertaken on the processed lithium chloride at an independent
laboratory.
“The significance of the successful commissioning of the HMW plant cannot be overstated. The HMW mining operations have now been completely de-risked from start to finish, and in just a few months, we expect to have lithium chloride concentrate ready for sales,” Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega, managing director of Galan, said in a press release.
Last year, the company secured an offtake deal with US-based Authium for 45,000 tonnes of lithium chloride concentrate produced from its Phase 1 operations over a period of 6-12 years. Concurrent with the offtake, Galan also received a funding package to complete construction of the plant.
“To our knowledge, Galan will be the only greenfield lithium project coming online in 2026. Becoming a new source of potential supply to the battery supply chain is very exciting and it is well timed to take advantage of a favourable lithium pricing environment,” he added.
The milestone comes amid a months-long recovery in the lithium market that led to to the resumption of several idled mines and expansions at others. Earlier this month, two of Galan’s peers — Core Lithium (ASX: CXO) and Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) — both announced plans to reboot their key mines in Australia, while the massive Mount Holland mine, also in Australia, recently received approval to double its production capacity.
Optimization underway
Following the processing of its first lithium chloride, Galan is now undertaking an optimization phase, which it says will initially result in a variable rate of processed brine but, once complete, will stabilize at a production rate of 4,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE).
To date, Galan has accumulated a brine inventory of circa 10,000 tonnes in LCE in its evaporation ponds at HMW, providing immediate and substantial feedstock for the production ramp-up phase. This inventory, it said, positions the company to build towards rates of production consistent with the initial Phase 1
production capacity (4,000 tpa LCE) without interruption.
Pond construction works for the expanded 5,200-tpa capacity will also begin shortly, with the capacity uplift targeted for the first half of 2027, Galan said, noting that the nanofiltration plant is designed to support this expansion.
The company also holds construction permits for a Phase 2 operation (21,000 tpa) and has plans for a staged, low-risk production growth pathway across four phases to up to 60,000 tpa of LCE production.
The project, located in Catamarca province, is part of Argentina President Javier Milei’s RIGI program that went into effect in 2024 as part of nationwide efforts to encourage investment in the mining sector.
