Sileach Passes Pilot Plant With Flying Colours
THE INSIDE STORY: Lithium Australia’s (ASX: LIT) trademarked Sileach process is a radical disruptive processing technology.
Sileach is a halogen based hydrometallurgical method of recovering lithium from spodumene, currently the primary source of hard-rock lithium production. The process is rapid and flexible and capable of being applied to all lithium bearing silicate minerals.
Lithium Australia has demonstrated the Sileach process has the potential to reduce the cost of producing lithium chemicals by recovering lithium without the need for roasting, the cost of which in current processes makes many low-grade lithium deposits uneconomic.
“The first advantage is a very low energy footprint,” Lithium Australia managing director Adrian Griffin told The Resources Roadhouse.
“Another advantage is that all metals in the material put through the Sileach process can be extracted in the aqueous phase, releasing a range of metals to be available for the production of valuable by-products.
“The reduced energy costs and significant by-product credits can potentially drive the operating cost, to produce lithium chemicals, way down, resulting in lithium chemicals, produced from hard-rock possibly being amongst the cheapest in the industry.”
In August, LIT commenced pilot plant testing of the Sileach at ANSTO Minerals’ (a division of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) Lucas Heights testing facility, located on the outskirts of Sydney, New South Wales.
LIT is working in partnership with ANSTO Minerals to pilot test the Sileach process.
The partnership has gained assistance in the form of two Innovations Connections Grants under the Entrepreneur’s Programme run by the Australian federal government’s Department of Industry and Science.
The pilot plant was fed continuously for six days, treating approximately 650 kilograms of ore from LIT’s Lepidolite Hill deposit in Western Australia.
Extraction of lithium using the Sileach process in this first pilot plant run exceeded 95 per cent in the leach circuit, validating both the overall extraction and accelerated rate of extraction of lithium originally achieved laboratory test work.
This first campaign produced a purified lithium-containing liquor, devoid of impurities, which became the subject of a second pilot campaign in October, producing lithium carbonate and potassium sulphate (fertiliser) on a continuous basis.
Once again the pilot plant behaved in line with expectations, producing six kilograms of approximately 99 per cent purity lithium carbonate concentrate.
“The performance of the pilot plant testing could not have been better,” Griffin said.
“The results clearly demonstrated we can achieve exceptional lithium extractions.
“The material that was processed in the initial test was not subjected to pre-concentration, but still achieved outstanding performance with minimal feed preparation.
“We are intentionally concentrating on the lower-grade, hard rock products, from which no other processes can recover lithium commercially.”
Lithium solutions recovered from the ANSTO pilot plant are being evaluated by Murdoch University to maximize the potential revenue stream generated from by-product credits and to optimise impurity deportment.
The work being carried out by Murdoch is supported by the Western Australian Government via a Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia (MRIWA) research grant.
Although the recent test work has utilised ore from LIT’s Lepidolite Hill deposit, the company is also working closely with Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) to commercialise Sileach for use on that company’s Pilgangoora project.
To that end, Pilbara Minerals is supplying feed material for pilot testing at ANSTO and sharing initial operating costs.
Subject to a successful outcome, LIT will commit to capital expenditure for a larger scale pilot plant with Pilbara Minerals supplying the spodumene concentrate.
A positive result may lead to a 50/50 Joint Venture production facility to process spodumene from Pilgangoora with the ultimate outcome being the establishment of a lithium chemical processing plant in Port Hedland.
Apart from its Lepodilite Hill deposit and the agreement with Pilbara Minerals, LIT has taken positions in many of the major lithium provinces around the globe.
This includes a number of projects currently being assessed in Western Australia as well as overseas with exploration recently kicking off in Mexico.
The bulk of LIT’s current portfolio is situated within Western Australia.
Still in the emerging Pilgangoora region, it has struck the Pilgangoora Memorandum of Understanding with Venus Metals (ASX: VMC) where the companies have an agreement to assess the commercial potential of Sileach on ground held by Venus.
Elsewhere it has forged the Goldfields Lithium Alliance with Cazaly Resources (ASX: CAZ) and Focus Minerals (ASX: FML) an exploration JV split 50/50 between LIT and Cazaly within a radius of 100 kilometres of Kalgoorlie with Focus Minerals free carried in the Coolgardie area.
Under the Seabrook Rare Metals Venture, Tungsten Mining (ASX: TGN) is 20 per cent free carried on a project focused on lithium pegmatites north of Southern Cross.
At the 100 per cent-owned Lake Johnston project, lithium mineralisation was recently identified during reconnaissance exploration.
LIT announced a consolidation of lithium rights at Lake Johnston in October, which includes lithium rights on two tenements held by Lefroy Exploration (ASX: LEX) and close to Poseidon Nickel’s (ASX: POS) recently announced discoveries.
The 100 per cent-owned Ravensthorpe project has shown to host a generous supply of lithium pegmatites in the same geological sequence as the Mt Cattlin mine.
The name of the Greenbushes project (80 per cent LIT) says it all with a large area hosting abundant pegmatites adjacent to the world’s largest producing lithium mine.
The Gascoyne project (100 per cent LIT) is located in a sparsely explored pegmatite province in the North West of WA.
In the Northern Territory, the company’s 100 per cent-owned Bynoe project is again heavily-populated with pegmatites, located close to Darwin and flanked to the north and south by recent high-grade lithium discoveries at the Finniss project of Core Exploration (ASX: CXO).
In Queensland the 100 per cent-owned Cape York exploration licence applications over ground prospective for fertile granitic intrusions and pegmatites.
Lithium Australia’s international investments include an interest in MetalsTech Ltd, which has lithium pegmatites in Quebec, Canada and is soon to be floated on the ASX.
The company has also landed in Mexico, adjacent to the world’s largest identified lithium clay deposit, Bacanora’s Sonora project where it is earning up to 65 per cent of the Electra project from Toronto-listed Alix Resources Corp.
Sampling undertaking at the Electra project earlier this year yielded values as high as 246ppm lithium, confirming a target sedimentary assemblage with potential to host economic lithium-bearing, clay-rich horizons.
LIT has now consolidated its involvement at the Electra project having already earned 25 per cent equity in the project.
Following Alix Resources new discovery, Agua Fria, which is now part of the Electra project, a drilling program is currently underway, being funded by LIT to take its interest in the project to 49 per cent.
“Drilling near-surface mineralisation like this is an opportunity not to be missed and will also be a significant part of our global exploration efforts,” Griffin said.
“However, it is the application of the Sileach processing technology to materials not viable with other processing regimes that is our major focus, as it may provide a strong commercial opportunity in most of the hard-rock lithium provinces around the world.
“This can be achieved by applying Sileach to otherwise uncommercial ores and feeding central processing facilities to maximise capital efficiency, making lithium chemical production much more attractive for a wider range of industry particpants.”
Lithium Australia NL (ASX: LIT)
… the short story
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DIRECTORS
Adrian Griffin, Bryan Dixon, George Bauk