The arrival of the DLE pilot plant marks the third phase of Arizona Lithium’s evaluation of the third-party technology at its Prairie lithium brine project. Pic: via Getty Images.
Mining
Arizona Lithium is edging closer to starting pilot production using direct lithium extraction from its Prairie project in Saskatchewan, Canada, following the arrival of pilot plant at its facility.
The Prairie lithium brine project, which was acquired at the end of 2022, currently has a resource of 5.7Mt lithium carbonate equivalent – most of which is in the higher confidence indicated category (4Mt LCE at 127mg/L lithium) that allows for mine planning.
Not only is the project sited in one of the world’s top mining friendly jurisdictions, it has easy access to key infrastructure including electricity, natural gas, fresh water, paved highways and railroads.
Arizona Lithium (ASX:AZL) had previously carried out two highly encouraging phases of offsite testing using the selected third-party direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology.
Testing is also ongoing for its proprietary DLE tech, the Prairie Lithium Ion Exchange that selectively removes lithium from brine, which had accompanied its acquisition of the Prairie project.
With the arrival of the DLE pilot plant at its facility in Saskatchewan, the company can now progress with the third and final phase of the evaluation of a “very promising” third-party DLE technology.
AZL is now working with the provider to commission the pilot plant as quickly as possible.
It has already prepared the facility to start processing brine and producing a lithium concentrate as soon as the pilot plant is operational.
Some 10,000 litres of battery-grade lithium concentrate will be sent to its Lithium Research Centre (LRC) in Arizona where it will be processed into a high-grade product.
“We are very excited to have the pilot plant arrive at our facility in Saskatchewan, and even more excited to get it commissioned and into operation. I look forward to being able to share the exciting results with our shareholders,” managing director Paul Lloyd said.
Besides the start of Phase 3 DLE evaluation, AZL is also progressing a pivotal pre-feasibility study that is on track for completion in December this year.
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.
