Name of the Project
Prairie lithium project.

Location
Williston basin of Saskatchewan, Canada.

Project Owner/s
Prairie Lithium, formerly Arizona Lithium.

Project Description
Prairie holds a resource of 6.3-million tonnes comprising 4.5-million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in the indicated category and 1.8-million tonnes in the inferred category.

A prefeasibility study (PFS) has reported initial production of 6 000 t/y, consisting of three inaugural well pads, each producing 2 000 t/y of LCE over a 20-year mine life.

The robust PFS economics for Phase 1 can be replicated, and additional modules will increase production to between 20 000 t/y and 25 000 t/y in Phase 2, and multiples thereof in Phase 3.

The Prairie project uses conventional oil and gas drilling and completion methods to access lithium-rich brine from aquifers about 2.3 km underground. 

Through direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology, the company will separate lithium from the brine. The extracted lithium concentrate will be converted on site to an upgraded high-purity material. The remaining lithium-depleted brine will be disposed of back underground into a different aquifer. The DLE process uses less land and fresh water while generating less waste, in comparison to hard-rock and evaporation mining.

Prairie’s current website states that the first phase of production is fully permitted and that construction is under way, with production pads being built to support scalable lithium extraction.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
In the base case, the project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $448-million and an internal rate of return of 23.9%, with a payback of 2.2 years.

Capital Expenditure
Phase 1 – $290-million, including contingency. The total installed cost for each additional well pad is estimated at $70-million.

Planned Start/End Date
First production from Phase 1 is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026.

Latest Developments
Prairie Lithium has started with factory acceptance testing at its commercial-scale DLE unit, representing another important step towards commissioning of the project.

The DLE unit, once commercialised, will be the largest of its kind in North America.

Upon successful completion of the factory acceptance testing, the commercial-scale DLE unit will be transported to Prairie’s Phase 1 production facility in Saskatchewan for installation.

The commercial-scale DLE is about four times the scale of the single commercial-scale DLE column, deployed by Standard Lithium at its Arkansas project, where a single column was installed in March 2024 and is achieving industry-leading results.

The Standard Lithium facility has completed 15 000 cycles of DLE from the processing of one-million barrels of brine, averaging recovery rates of 95% lithium.

Prairie considers the successful testing and deployment of its four-column DLE unit to be a major milestone in validating the company’s scalable development model. 

The company has its Phase 1 production fully secured under a binding offtake agreement with Hydro Lithium in South Korea – equivalent to 150 t/y of LCE.

Hydro Lithium is also providing A$10-million of proprietary refining equipment to the company, which reduces Prairie’s upfront capital requirements for producing an upgraded intermediate lithium product for downstream conversion into battery-grade material.

The company expects first production shortly after commissioning in the fourth quarter.

Prairie MD Paul Lloyd has said starting factory acceptance testing is a critical milestone for Prairie as it advances towards first production in Saskatchewan.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Samuel Engineering (lead consultant for the PFS).

Contact Details for Project Information
Prairie Lithium, tel +61 8 6313 3936 or email info@prairielithium.com.