Savannah Resources PLC (AIM:SAV, ETR:SAV, OTC:SAVNF) has finalised its process flowsheet for the production of spodumene concentrate at its 100%-owned Barroso lithium project in Portugal.
Minsol Engineering, a leading metallurgical consultant, is satisfied that the flowsheet, which has been tested and refined over the past eight months, is now finalised and ready to be adopted for detailed engineering studies as part of a definitive feasibility study.
The process will will support the production of a high quality, spodumene concentrate grading greater than or equal to 5.5% Li2O, in line with current industry product specifications
The flowsheet will utilise industry standard equipment and processes including dense media separation and pre-concentration, followed by magnetic separation and flotation.
The environmentally friendly reagent regime, which complies with all known European and Portuguese requirements, allows both mica and spodumene flotation to operate at near neutral pH.
Average recovery achieved for all composites is 75.3%.
Up to 30kg of concentrate sample will be produced for downstream testing by Savannah's potential offtake customers
The process performance has been optimised at a 42% coarser grind size of 150 microns than previously tested which should result in significant capital and operating cost savings.
"We have successfully developed a robust and environmentally enhanced flowsheet that has benefited from the deep body of knowledge developed over the last few years around the conventional processing of spodumene ores,” said Savannah’s chief executive David Archer.
“We are particularly proud to have developed a new reagent regime that eliminates the acids that are typically used to control the pH in the flotation circuit. While our process flowsheet for the Barroso project already complies with all relevant Portuguese and European regulations, the additional effort and innovation we have shown further reflects Savannah's highly responsible approach to the natural environment and the Project's stakeholders.”