Lake Resources NL: First Samples Successfully Produced from Pilot Plant
Brisbane, Australia - Clean lithium developer Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) (FRA:LK1) (OTCMKTS:LLKKF) together with its technology partner, Lilac Solutions Inc, announced today another step towards the delivery of high purity, responsibly sourced lithium, with the first samples of lithium chloride successfully produced from Lilac's direct lithium extraction pilot plant module dedicated for Lake's Kachi Lithium Brine Project.The samples show high lithium concentrations as previously demonstrated at lab scale (refer ASX announcement, 9 January 2020). These samples will be analysed by external laboratories next week.
Processing continues of 20,000 litres of brine at Lilac's newly upgraded industrial facility in California.
Lake is targeting the production of one lithium chloride sample per week, which will later be converted into lithium carbonate and then dispatched to potential off-takers.
Lake's recent Kachi Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) (refer ASX announcement 30 April 2020) and recently published research (available on the company's website) demonstrates the disruptive, cost competitive, sustainable and scalable nature of the Lilac process which will be employed at Kachi and its ability to produce a premium, battery-grade product sought by battery and cathode manufacturers globally.
Momentum towards the electrification of global transport continues to accelerate, as seen by new lithium ion battery megafactories, including the UK government's commitment of 1 billion British pounds of funding towards building a lithium-ion battery megafactory. Currently 142 battery megafactories are being built worldwide, according to analysts Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, with the market size having quadrupled since 2015 on the back of the EV revolution.
Lake's Managing Director, Steve Promnitz said: "Production of larger size lithium chloride samples has now been demonstrated at a much larger scale with similar results to the initial, smaller samples reported. The next step is producing lithium carbonate samples that can meet product quality requirements of large off-takers. We eagerly await the release of these first samples and ramping up our negotiations with potential off-takers."
About Lake Resources NL:
Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) is a lithium exploration and development company focused on developing its three lithium brine projects and hard rock project in Argentina, all owned 100%. The leases are in a prime location among the lithium sector's largest players within the Lithium Triangle, where half of the world's lithium is produced. Lake holds one of the largest lithium tenement packages in Argentina (~200,000Ha) secured in 2016 prior to a significant 'rush' by major companies. The large holdings provide the potential to provide consistent security of supply demanded by battery makers and electric vehicle manufacturers.
The Kachi project covers 69,000 ha over a salt lake south of FMC's lithium operation and near Albemarle's Antofalla project in Catamarca Province. Drilling at Kachi has confirmed a large lithium brine bearing basin over 20km long, 15km wide and 400m to 800m deep. Drilling over Kachi (currently 16 drill holes, 3100m) has produced a maiden indicated and inferred resource of 4.4 Mt LCE (Indicated 1.0Mt and Inferred 3.4Mt) within a 8-17 Mt LCE exploration target (refer ASX announcement 27 November 2018).
A direct extraction technique is being tested in partnership with Lilac Solutions, which has shown 80-90% recoveries and lithium brine concentrations in excess of 3000 mg/L lithium and is planned to be trialled on site in tandem with conventional methods as part of a PFS to follow the resource statement. Scope exists to unlock considerable value through partnerships and corporate deals in the near term.
Source:
Lake Resources NL
Contact:
Steve Promnitz Managing Director Lake Resources NL T: +61-2-9188-7864 E: steve@lakeresources.com.au