Frontier Lithium Achieves Milestone with Production of Battery Quality Lithium Hydroxide with Mini-pilot Plant
SUDBURY, ON, Oct. 19, 2021
- Frontier Lithium has successfully produced battery grade lithium chemicals from its own high-quality spodumene resource(1) from the PAK deposit, part of the PAK Lithium Project in Ontario.
- Frontier is currently conducting additional bench-scale testing of a third-party's patented alkaline process route to produce lithium hydroxide from the company's second Spark 'open pitable' resource.
- This work builds on Frontier Lithium’s plan to build a fully-integrated lithium chemicals company. Data generated is contributing to the on-going internal scoping/trade-off study assessing various process options to be utilized for piloting to support Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS).
/CNW/ - Frontier Lithium Inc. ("Frontier" or "the Company") has successfully produced battery-quality lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LiOH-H2O) through a reputable third-party firm using its crystallization process technology from a purified lithium hydroxide (LiOH) solution produced by Frontier Lithium. The lithium salts were produced from 'ore-to-hydroxide' sulphate conversion route by a mini-pilot plant using core samples taken from the PAK Lithium Project's PAK deposit. Test work results are shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Results of Frontier Lithium Hydroxide Testwork and Industry Specifications
Item |
Unit |
FL Result |
China Spec(2) |
N.A Suplier |
LiOH |
% |
56.5 |
³56.5 |
56.5 |
Na |
ppm |
6 |
20 |
20 |
K |
ppm |
<10 |
10 |
10 |
Fe |
ppm |
ND(4) |
8 |
5 |
Ca |
ppm |
4 |
150 |
15 |
Cu |
ppm |
ND |
5 |
5 |
Mg |
ppm |
<1 |
10 |
10 |
Si |
ppm |
34 |
30 |
30 |
Cl |
ppm |
<20 |
20 |
20 |
S04 |
ppm |
<30 |
100 |
100 |
1. Measured and Indicated resource of 10.49 Mt averaging 1.78% Li2O and Inferred resource of 18.48 Mt averaging 1.45% Li2O |
2. Chinese Standard GB/T 8766-2013 T2 |
3. Company sources |
4. ND means "Not detected" |
Trevor Walker, President and CEO of Frontier Lithium stated, "We continue to progress, de-risk and execute on our plan to build a fully-integrated lithium chemicals company to service the global battery and electric vehicle industry." He also added "We are looking to complete lithium chemicals process selection by year-end and will then commence subsequent piloting and demonstration programs necessary to deliver the feasibility of an optimized process with innovative technology necessary for building a commercial lithium chemical processing plant in North America."
The program results reflect Frontier's ability to produce concentrate and lithium hydroxide from the PAK Lithium Project. The Government of Ontario is financially supporting the program of conventional direct conversion sulphate and novel sulfate-free processing of spodumene concentrates. The test work will support the PFS study currently being conducted to assess the viability of a vertically integrated chemical company through operation of a spodumene mine and concentrator at the PAK Lithium Project to feed lithium chemicals plant operation in the Great Lakes region of North America.
Due Diligence
All scientific and technical information in this release has been reviewed and approved by Garth Drever, P.Geo., the qualified person (QP) under the definitions established by National Instrument 43-101.
Other Matters
The Company also announces that pursuant to its "Stock Option Plan" it has granted 250,000 stock options, to certain employees. The options are set for a period of five years, expiring on October 19, 2026. The options are priced at $.92 and are subject to regulatory approval.
About Frontier Lithium Inc.
Frontier Lithium is a pre-production business that is targeting to become a manufacturer of battery-quality lithium hydroxide to support electric vehicle and battery supply chains in North America. Frontier owns the PAK Lithium Project which contains one of North America's highest-grade, large-tonnage hard-rock lithium resources in the form of a rare low-iron spodumene. The Project continues to have significant exploration upside with potential to increase the lithium resource. It is a pure play lithium company with the largest land position in the Electric Avenue, a premium lithium mineral district located in Northern Ontario.
About the PAK Lithium Project
The PAK Lithium Project encompasses 26,774 hectares at the south end of Ontario's Electric Avenue, the largest land package hosting premium lithium-bearing pegmatites in Ontario. The Project covers 65 kilometres of the Electric Avenue's length and remains largely unexplored; however, since 2013, the company has delineated two premium spodumene-bearing lithium deposits (Pak and Spark) located 2.3 kilometres from each other. A 2021 preliminary economic assessment of a fully integrated lithium operation utilizing spodumene concentrate generated from the Pak lithium project resource – (1) Measured and Indicated resource of 10.49 Mt averaging 1.78% Li2O and Inferred resource of 18.48 Mt averaging 1.45% Li2O - to achieve downstream conversion for production of battery-quality lithium chemicals (National Instrument 43-101 technical report titled "Pak Property" by BBA Engineering Ltd., issued on April 5, 2021) resulted in an after-tax net present value (discounted at 8 per cent) of $974-million (U.S.) with a 21-per-cent internal rate of return. Considerable exploration upside is supported on the Pak lithium project through two other spodumene-bearing discoveries: the Bolt pegmatite (located between the Pak and Spark deposits) as well as the Pennock pegmatite (a further 30 kilometres northwest of Pak within the project claims).
Forward-looking statements
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future production, reserve potential, exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the Company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and those actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company, Investors should review the Company's registered filings what are available at https://www.sedar.com
SOURCE Frontier Lithium Inc.
Bora Ugurgel, Manager, Investor Relations, 2736 Belisle Drive Val Caron, ON. P3N 1B3 CANADA, T. +001 705.897.7622, F. +001 705.897.7618
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