Kachi Demonstration Plant initial results
Sydney, Nov 2, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Clean lithium developer Lake Resources NL (
ASX:LKE) (LK1:FRA) (LLKKF:OTCMKTS) is pleased to provide an update on progress at the Kachi project lithium processing demonstration plant.
Completion of construction of the demonstration plant on site and the wet and dry commissioning process took place during September and October.
The demonstration plant is now processing Kachi brines with final optimisation of the process now nearing completion.
Lilac Solutions Executive Vice President, Bart Packer, has been on site at Kachi to oversee the final adjustments to the plant to ensure optimisation of processes prior to continual processing getting underway.
"Initial operations of the demo plant have already delivered product at spec, with the demonstration plant achieving similar lithium recoveries that were achieved in the Oakland pilot plant test work in California.
"Optimisation work continues on site; Lilac anticipate the first samples of Lithium Chloride will be shipped for conversion to Lithium Carbonate within two weeks."
Lake proposes that this final lithium product will then be qualified by a tier one battery maker to vali date product specifications.
Lilac CEO, David Snydacker said these excellent early results validate Lilac's ability to quickly scale up lithium production at the Kachi site.
"Just one month after the start of wet commissioning, we are already achieving 80 percent lithium recoveries even as we complete the commissioning process and increase recoveries.
"Cheers to our field operations team, which has been working 24/7 to achieve these results in partnership with Lake Resource's fantastic team at Kachi.
"We are excited to expand our collaboration with the Lake team as we work to fast-track commercia l-scale production of lithium carbonate," he said.
Lake CEO, David Dickson said Lake was delighted to see initial test results achieving anticipated specifications.
"This validates the many years of test work that took place in Lilac's Oakland facility during Covid whilst access to site was impossible.
"We look forward to seeing the test work move into to steady state and then for the process to be validated by Hatch so that work on the DFS can be completed."
Mr Dickson said every resource project in construction phase globally had faced inevitable challenges in recent times and he had been pleased to see the Lake and Lilac teams in Argentina working together closely to overcome early construction challenges and to now deliver excellent results from the initial work completed on Kachi brines.
Lake Executive Chairman Stu Crow said Lilac's method of producing high purity lithium would disrupt the battery materials supply industry as it was scalable, low cost, and delivers a consistent product quality with a significant ESG benefit.
"The news of successful demonstration plant results is timely as Lake Resources full board is in Sydney to attend the IMARC conference this week to meet and host a strong delegation of representatives from Argentinian Federal and Provincial Governments and Departments, as well as continue discussions with international and domestic investment banks and financial market participants who have been assisting Lake in developing its strategy as the company moves toward financial investment decision (FID) in 2023," he said.
As noted in the September Quarterly Report, Lake intends to make several new executive and board appointments before year end as it transitions from an exploration company toward development and production.
About International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC)
The International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) is where global mining leaders collaborate on trends in mining, investment and innovation towards a sustainable future. As Australia's largest mining event, it brings together over 8,500 decision makers, mining leaders, policy makers, investors, commodity buyers, technical experts, innovators, and educators from more than 100 countries for three days of learning, deal-making and unparalleled networking. IMARC is developed in collaboration with its founding partners the Victorian State Government, Austmine, the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and Mines and Money, and held with the support of its Host Partner, the NSW Government.
About Lake Resources NL
Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) (OTCMKTS:LLKKF) is a clean lithium developer utilising state-of-the-art ion exchange extraction technology for production of sustainable, high purity lithium from its flagship Kachi Project in Catamarca Province within the Lithium Triangle in Argentina among three other projects covering 220,000 ha.
This ion exchange extraction technology delivers a solution for two rising demands - high purity battery materials to avoid performance issues, and more sustainable, responsibly sourced materials with low carbon footprint and significant ESG benefits.
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