Frontier Lithium Completes Advanced Phase Lithium Concentrate Pilot
SUDBURY, ON, March 30, 2022 /CNW/ - Frontier Lithium Inc. (TSXV: FL) (FRA: HL2) (OTCQX: LITOF) (the "Company" or "Frontier") is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed a mineral processing pilot plant campaign that will provide 500 kg of spodumene concentrate to be used for lithium hydrometallurgical conversion process piloting.
Dr. Naizhen Cao, Vice President of Technology for Frontier Lithium, commented " The piloting program has generated data required to support the company's advancing feasibility studies. The pilot also produced representative concentrates required for lithium chemicals processing for battery-grade lithium hydroxide production." He further added, "We are satisfied with the campaign results from the representative sample as they compare favourably to lithium industry specifications. We see the opportunity to improve lithium grade, recovery, and reduce iron content by further optimizing conditions and the flowsheet."
A representative sample of 7,800 kg was assembled that contained a blend of ore from the Spark (89%) and PAK (11%) deposits. The sample contained mafic minerals representing internal and external dilution at an overall content of 4%.
The assay of the sample processed by the pilot plant is summarized in Table 1, which included 1.57% Li2O and 0.80% Fe2O3. The lithium content is reasonably similar to the average resource grade that would be 1.47% based on the proportions of PAK ore at 2.00% Li2O and Spark ore of 1.40% Li2O that was recently updated according to the March 1st press release.
Li2O | SiO2 | Al2O3 | Fe2O3 | MgO | CaO | Na2O | K2O | P2O5 | MnO |
1.57 | 72.8 | 16.3 | 0.80 | 0.31 | 0.61 | 3.66 | 2.34 | 0.24 | 0.11 |
Due to the fine grained nature of the spodumene mineralization in the Spark deposit, processing of the ore using Dense Media Separation (DMS) is not beneficial and processing involved flotation with conventional preparatory steps of desliming, magnetic separation, and gravity concentration.
The pilot plant campaign involved a total operating time of 81 hours that included a continuous run of 31.5 hours. In total, 930 kg of concentrate was produced with an average grade of 6.0% Li2O. The grade of concentrate produced on a per shift basis ranged from 6.4% to 5.6% Li2O and a bulk sample of 640 kg was prepared at a grade of 6.13% Li2O and 0.76% Fe2O3 was prepared. A 500 kg portion of this material was sent to the Company's technology development partner for hydrometallurgical conversion process piloting.
The survey collected during the final operating shift, FPP-08, produced a similar concentrate as the bulk sample at 6.07% Li2O and achieved a lithium recovery of 76%. This compares well with the recovery achieved from the bench-scale locked cycle test announced on January 11, 2022 of 78%. The assays and lithium recovery of the total representative concentrate of this campaign are listed in Table 2.
Table 2: The assays and lithium recovery of the total representative concentrate produced in this campaign (%)
Li2O | SiO2 | Al2O3 | K2O | Na2O | CaO | P2O5 | MgO | MnO | Fe2O3 | Li Recovery |
6.07 | 64.80 | 24.20 | 0.25 | 0.62 | 0.96 | 0.36 | 0.36 | 0.12 | 0.78 | 76 |
The magnetic separation equipment used during the pilot plant appears to have not been effective and further magnetic separation testing on a subsample concentrate produced from the pilot plant reduced the iron levels to 0.27% Fe2O3 and it is expected that this can be attained in a future operation.
In 2020, Frontier successfully produced a high quality technical-grade spodumene concentrate with an average grade of 7.2% lithium oxide with low impurities including iron oxide levels below 0.15% Fe2O3 and total yield greater than 25% from a PAK Deposit composite sample.
Due Diligence
All scientific and technical information in this release has been reviewed and approved by Garth Drever , P.Geo., the qualified person (QP) under the definitions established by National Instrument 43-101.
About Frontier Lithium
Frontier Lithium is a preproduction business that is targeting to become a manufacturer of battery-quality lithium materials to support electric vehicle and battery supply chains in North America. Frontier owns the PAK Lithium Project which contains one of North America's highest-grade, large-tonnage hard-rock lithium resources in the form of a rare low-iron spodumene. The project continues to have significant exploration upside with potential to increase the lithium resource. The Company is a pure-play lithium development opportunity with the largest land position in a premium lithium mineral district located in Northern Ontario.
About the PAK Lithium Project
The PAK Lithium Project contains a tier one lithium resource size in North America and is one of the global top three premium resources by quality. A 2021 preliminary economic assessment (National Instrument 43-101 technical report titled "Pak Property" by BBA E&C Inc., issued on April 5, 2021) delivered a fully integrated lithium operation from the resource to achieve downstream conversion plan for production of battery-quality lithium salts. The study resulted in an after-tax net present value (discounted at 8 per cent) of $974-million (U.S.) with a 21-per-cent internal rate of return. The Project encompasses 26,774 hectares at the south end of Ontario's Electric Avenue, the largest land package hosting premium lithium-bearing pegmatites in Ontario. The Project is supported by a measured and indicated resource of 21.64 million tonnes (Mt) averaging 1.56 per cent lithium oxide (Li2O) and inferred resource of 20.87 Mt averaging 1.42 per cent Li2O.The Project covers 65 kilometres of the Electric Avenue's length and remains largely unexplored; however, since 2013, the company has delineated two premium spodumene-bearing lithium deposits (PAK and Spark), located 2.3 kilometres apart. Considerable exploration upside is supported on the Project through two other spodumene-bearing discoveries: the Bolt pegmatite (located between the PAK and Spark deposits), as well as the Pennock pegmatite (30 kilometres northwest of PAK Deposit within the project claims).
Forward-looking statements
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future production, reserve potential, exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the Company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and those actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company, Investors should review the Company's registered filings available at sedar.com.
SOURCE Frontier Lithium Inc.
Company Contact: Bora Ugurgel, Manager, Investor Relations, 2736 Belisle Drive Val Caron, ON. P3N 1B3 CANADA, T. +001 705.897.7622, F. +001 705.897.7618
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