First Phosphate Corp. (CSE:PHOS) announced it has completed the commissioning of its pilot plant for phosphate concentrate which uses fully solventless, environmentally friendly extraction methods.
The phosphate concentrate will be used in the formulation of battery-grade purified phosphoric acid in the manufacturing of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode active material for the North American LFP battery industry, First Phosphate said in a statement.
The pilot plant, located at the facilities of SGS Canada in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, was set up by the company to process a large bulk sample of phosphate-bearing apatite to a concentrate.
A 15-ton bulk sample was crushed to a diameter of 20 millimetres and sent to SGS which, based on 15 crushed rock samples, assayed 7.6% P2O5 (phosphate) and 6.9% TiO2 (titanium oxide).
According to First Phosphate, the pilot plant optimizes its metallurgical process for the production of a super high-grade phosphate concentrate approaching 41% P2O5.
To date, the pilot plant has produced more than 900 kilograms of apatite concentrate which have been sent to Prayon SA’s facilities in Belgium for the production of battery-grade purified phosphoric acid (PPA), which will then be sent to the company’s partners for homologation into their LFP cathode active material production processes.
The pilot plant also produces marketable recoveries of ilmenite and magnetite, First Phosphate noted.
"The commissioning of the pilot plant is a major milestone for First Phosphate in the processing of battery-grade purified phosphoric acid that will be used in the LFP homologation process with our partners," commented First Phosphate president Peter Kent.
SGS director of technical services Dominique Lascelles added in a statement: "The test work to date has proven positive and we are happy to have completed this full pilot plant program with First Phosphate."
First Phosphate is a mineral development company fully dedicated to extracting and purifying phosphate for the production of cathode active material for the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery industry.
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