PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A large-scale lithium processing pilot plant (LSPP) to test ASX-listed Lithium Australia’s SiLeach technology is expected to cost some $42-million to develop, the company reported on Thursday.
The LSPP design is based on lithium carbonate production of 2 500 t/y, which is one-tenth the scale of a full-scale production plant.
Lithium Australia’s preferred supply model is to source lithium mica from waste streams from operating mines, and the company is also pursuing exploration activity to secure alternative supply.
The LSPP study was undertaken with the objective to construct and operate a facility that demonstrated the scalability of the SiLeach process with a break-even operating cost of $10 000/t of lithium carbonate, with Lithium Australia saying that the study had shown that this could be readily achieved without reliance on by-product credits.
The study also found that the LSPP could recover high-purity lithium carbonate that would meet offtake specifications.
Lithium Australia will conduct optimisation studies during the remainder of 2017 to improve the capital and operating costs, with a view of committing to construction of an LSPP by the end of the year.
In the meantime, Lithium Australian will pursue opportunities to source feed from existing operations where the value of accessory lithium minerals is not being captured, while also exploring for and developing its own mineral deposits.