Seymour Lake Lithium Project ideally positioned for development
Term Sheet to Fund, Design and Build Lithium Facility
Perth, June 28, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Diversified minerals explorer and developer Ardiden Limited (
ASX:ADV) is pleased to advise that it has established a pathway for the potential near-term development and commercialisation of its majority-owned Seymour Lake Lithium Project in Ontario, Canada after executing a conditional binding term sheet with a leading Chinese mining equipment manufacturer to fund, design and build a lithium processing facility at the strategically located project.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Ardiden executes a conditional binding term sheet with Yantai Jinyuan Mining Machinery Co., Ltd (Yantai) for a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) agreement for the construction of a lithium processing facility at its majority-owned Seymour Lake Lithium Project in Ontario, Canada.
- Subject to Ardiden defining 1Mt JORC Mineral Resource at Seymour Lake and at Ardiden's sole election:
o Yantai are to design, build, operate and transfer a lithium concentrate processing facility for the Seymour Lake Lithium Project;
o Yantai to provide 50% of the project funding; and
o Yantai are to either directly enter into, or facilitate the signing of, a 5-year off-take agreement for up to 5,000tpa of lithium concentrate product from Seymour Lake.
The term sheet, which Ardiden has executed with Yantai Jinyuan Mining Machinery Co., Ltd ("Yantai"), outlines a proposal for a design, build, operate and transfer (BOT) arrangement for a proposed Lithium Concentrate Processing Facility ("LCPF") at Seymour Lake which could fast-track the development of the project.
Due to the rapid and ongoing growth in the global demand for lithium and as result of the highly encouraging recent metallurgical test results obtained from the North Aubry prospect, which demonstrate the high-quality nature of the spodumene mineralisation at Seymour Lake, Yantai has entered into a key strategic relationship with Ardiden.
Yantai is a highly experienced market leader in the production of mining and processing equipment, both within China and abroad. Subject to defining a JORC compliant Mineral Resource and, at Ardiden's sole election, the two companies intend to work together to expedite the development of the Seymour Lake Lithium Project.
Ardiden considers the formation of this strategic relationship to be an important milestone for the Company which creates a unique opportunity to significantly re-risk and potentially rapidly develop the Seymour Lake Project, establishing a near-term pathway to become a niche, high-grade lithium producer.
Should Ardiden be able to meet the conditions of the Term Sheet and define a JORC compliant Mineral Resource in the near future, Ardiden will be aiming to establish a scalable production facility at Seymour Lake with Yantai's assistance.
Under this proposal, Ardiden initially intends to produce a refined amount of lithium concentrate from Seymour Lake in order to meet the output requirements of the future off-take agreement currently being sought through Yantai.
Should Ardiden be successful in increasing the Mineral Resource at Seymour Lake and, subject to further off-take agreements being secured, Ardiden would be in a position to scale-up the production of lithium concentrate to meet the increased demand without the need for additional substantial capital investment. In the context of current market conditions, Ardiden considers the scalable approach to production to be to most appropriate and commercially responsible method.
With the assistance of Yantai and in accordance with current Term Sheet, Ardiden is currently in active discussions with potential off-take partners.
Ardiden considers the proposed direct investment by Yantai in providing 50% of project funding and the ongoing technical and industry support it will provide in securing a lithium off-take agreement to be a significant competitive advantage, as this strategic relationship dramatically reduces the project development risks and ideally positions the Seymour Lake Project for potential early lithium production.
Yantai Jinyuan Mining Machinery Co., Ltd
Yantai Jinyuan Mining Machinery Co., Ltd. is located in Yantai High-tech Industrial Park, in the city of Yantai, China and contains advanced processing equipment over an extensive facility covering an area of 36,000 square metres. It is a private professional company with integrating experimental study, process design, equipment manufacture, installation, debugging and staff training.
Yantai is a market leader with a strong technical and professional team of approximately 400 people specialising in supplying equipment for the mining and processing of Gold, Lead, Zinc, Molybdenum, Copper, Nickel and Lithium. Yantai is certified to ISO9001:2000 for the Quality Management System. Yantai has an established and good business reputation among customers in more than 20 provinces, cities and autonomous regions within China and provide services and equipment to customers in Russia, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Burma, India, Canada, Chile, Tajikistan, Pakistan, South Africa and Congo.
Yantai is a one-stop service including design, equipment manufacture, installation and debugging. Their senior technicians are experienced in the design, scientific research and production departments majored in Geology, Mining, Beneficiation, Mining Machine, Civil Engineering and Electricity, providing strong technical assurance for excellent service. Yantai cooperates with many colleges and scientific research institutes and are constantly learning and expanding their business scope and knowledge, whilst being aware of the latest trends and achievements of the domestic mining industry and applies the new technology to production and updating and improving their products.
Yantai is currently completing the expansion of the lithium carbonate production facility in the Shandong Province for the industry leader Shandong RuiFu Lithium Company Ltd, which has secured a number of substantial off-takes with ASX-listed companies including Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) and European Lithium Ltd (ASX:EUR).
For further information about Yantai, please refer to their website http://en.jinyuankj.com.cn/
Next Steps
Ardiden will continue to actively drill the North Aubry prospect with the aim of defining a maiden JORC compliant Mineral Resource in the near future, with the view to, subject to the Conditions Precedent, be in a position to exercise the option pursuant to the Term Sheet with Yantai.
Ardiden will continue to work with Yantai to meet the conditions of the Term Sheet, as well as undertake further discussions with potential off-take and funding partners.
The Company is also undertaking some limited Scoping Study work, in conjunction with ongoing metallurgical testwork, to prepare the project to advance to the next stage of commercialisation.
Ardiden looks forward to providing further updates as they come to hand.
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About Ardiden Ltd
Ardiden Limited (ASX:ADV) is an emerging international diversified exploration and development company possessing a mature multi-element asset portfolio, with a near term development pipeline, focused quality projects located in the established mining jurisdiction of Ontario, Canada.
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