Arizona Lithium inks approval for Phase 1 lithium production at Prairie

• Arizona Lithium receives approval for Phase 1 production at Prairie
• Prairie is the first lithium brine project in Canada’s Saskatchewan to reach this milestone
• Updated resource information acquired during the 2024 drilling and completion program has increased the total indicated resource to 4.6Mt LCE

Special Report: With regulatory clearance granted by the Ministry of Energy and Resources in Saskatchewan, Arizona Lithium is ready to initiate Phase 1 operations at its Prairie project, starting at 150tpa of lithium carbonate equivalent.

This represents a full commercial scale Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) unit that can be replicated to increase production.

Arizona Lithium (ASX:AZL) says Prairie is the first lithium brine project in Saskatchewan to reach this milestone, and one of the first lithium brine projects in North America to be approved for initial production.

In addition to receiving project approvals, an updated well network model has been constructed for the resource, based on information acquired during the 2024 drilling and completion program.

The updated well network modelling has increased the indicated resource that is producible per year by 120% to a new total of 17,000tpa LCE.

Background on Prairie

AZL’s Prairie asset is in one of the world’s top mining friendly jurisdictions – the Williston Basin of Saskatchewan, Canada.

It has easy access to key infrastructure including electricity, natural gas, fresh water, paved highways and railroads.

Prairie holds a 6.3Mt lithium carbonate equivalent resource over 345,000 acres of mineral rights and hosts an operational Koch Li-Pro direct lithium extraction (DLE) pilot plant – the largest ever deployed by Koch, that currently produces lithium chloride at a rate of about 150tpa lithium carbonate equivalent.

A pre-feasibility study (PFS) is underway, with the project expected to contribute significantly to North America’s future lithium supply, critical for electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy storage.

Watch: WTF with AZL & PFE: Is DLE the gamechanger in lithium production?

Prairie at the forefront of Canada’s lithium sector

Over the past five years, substantial lithium-focused investment in Saskatchewan has allowed the government to identify the southeast part of the province as the site of Canada’s highest-grade lithium brines.

Saskatchewan’s Energy and Resources Minister Colleen Young said the Prairie project has been leading the charge in lithium resource and process development.

“We are pleased to see the Prairie lithium project reach this milestone in its approval for initial production,” she said.

Minister of Trade and Export Development Warren Kaeding said global demand for lithium has risen significantly over the past five years and is expected to continue to increase well into the future.

“Seeing this type of continued capital investment in our province is just another example of how Saskatchewan is building capacity, creating jobs and bringing food and energy security to countries around the world.”

Watch: Long Shortz with Arizona Lithium: Closer to Prairie production with key water rights secured

‘Massive milestone’

AZL managing director Paul Lloyd said these approvals are another massive milestone in project development.

“The regulatory framework in Saskatchewan provides project developers with a clear permitting path and ability for projects to establish operations,” he said.

In addition to this, our updated well network model provides us a clear path as to how we can continue to increase production from across the Prairie project.

“We would like to thank the Ministry of Energy and Resources in Saskatchewan for their thorough but swift approval that should be a blueprint for global resource projects.”

This article was developed in collaboration with Arizona Lithium, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.