LithiumBank Resources Corp (TSX-V:LBNK) announced that direct lithium extraction (DLE) mineral processing test work has begun on brines from its Boardwalk Project in Alberta.
The company has hired Hatch to design, test and manage all its DLE programs. Hatch is an engineering firm that has expertise in engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) of lithium processing plants.
The firm will assess leading DLE technologies in parallel with its shortlisted DLE technology companies to inform a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) and subsequent commercial plant design, the company said. The PEA is a key stepping stone towards the design of a commercial facility that LithiumBank believes will produce battery grade lithium chemical product.
READ: LithiumBank Resources commences trading on the OTCQX Best Market to increase visibility and accessibility to US investors
LithiumBank first engaged Hatch in August 2021 to conduct a comparative study of multiple North American DLE technologies that could deliver a high purity Lithium Chloride (LiCl) concentrate to be used in commercial, battery grade lithium chemical production from the Boardwalk brine.
LithiumBank has narrowed the potential technology providers to a shortlist of companies that have received brine from Boardwalk and have commenced test work. The tests are meant to determine key design parameters, including selectivity of the lithium extraction media, extraction kinetics and media longevity.
“We are very excited to have commenced testing our brine with two of the shortlisted DLE technology companies," LithiumBank COO Kevin Piepgrass said in a statement. “Both shortlisted companies have developed DLE materials and extraction processes that the company believes have an ideal set of ranges of conditions required for peak performance. The temperature, pH, and chemistry at Boardwalk make these technologies ideal candidates and we look forward to receiving the results.”
The brine used in the DLE test work was collected in August 2021 from well 100/09-26-068-22W5/00 located in the South Sturgeon Lake oilfield and has a reported average grade of 73.8 milligrams per liter (mg/L) lithium.
The Boardwalk Leduc formation Li-brine inferred resource is globally estimated at 1,122,000 tonnes of elemental lithium at an average concentration of 67.1 mg/L in 16.7 cubic kilometers of formation brine volume. The total lithium carbonate equivalent for the inferred mineral resource is 5,973,000 tonnes.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel