ASX-listed Lithium Power International (LPI), through its joint venture (JV) company Minera Salar Blanco (MSB), has submitted the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Maricunga lithium brine project to the Chilean environmental authority, Servicio de Evaluación Ambiental (SEA).

The company said on Monday that it expected to obtain final approval of the EIA by the end of 2019, and that a construction sanction decision could be received by as early as the first quarter of 2020.

The 11 400-page EIA is the culmination of more than two years of work, and involved data gathering, a variety of environmental and engineering studies and monitoring campaigns carried out by experienced company management and consulting experts. The EIA also included a process of social engagement with the Colla indigenous communities in the area.

The EIA, under Chilean law, requires the SEA to provide, within 40 days of submission, a notification of any major deficiencies.

Meanwhile, the definitive feasibility study (DFS), which is being prepared by WorleyParsons, is expected to be finalised and released by the end of December, LPI confirmed.

The remaining activities on reserve modelling and engineering for the production plants were nearing completion, the firm stated, adding that the Maricunga project was considered one of the most advanced pre-production lithium brine projects in Chile and in South America.

LPI further reported that it had started discussions with Chilean and international institutions to finalise a letter of intent during the second half of 2019 for financing the project.

MSB CEO and newly-appointed LPI nonexecutive director Cristobal Garcia-Huidobro commented that, with the EIA assessment being an “extremely involved and time-consuming process”, the company took a position to commit to extra studies and comprehensive reviews to ensure that the document submitted was of the highest possible standards.

The “critically important and extremely technically complicated hydrological and hydrogeological modelling” has provided the company with positive outcomes, he added, which he said were documented in the EIA and would be included in the DFS.

“Social engagement with the local communities has enabled the project development to be welcomed in the Maricunga area, and we anticipate positive outcomes from the EIA review process,” Garcia-Huidobro said.

LPI chairperson David Hannon also noted the company’s delight with the quality of the report produced by MSB.

“The submission of the EIA further demonstrates the advanced development and the outstanding value of the project and constitutes a key step for the company on its way to become one of the global suppliers for the lithium industry,” Hannon elaborated.

He added that the submission of the EIA would further attract interested parties to engage in an offtake and funding relationship as the company moved ahead in the project’s development.