LithiumBank Resources Corp. [TSXV-LBNK; OTCQX-LBNKF] reported results from bench-scale G2L Greenview Resources Inc. direct lithium extraction (DLE) test work on brine from its Boardwalk lithium brine project. The Boardwalk project is located in west-central Alberta, Canada, and situated on 100%-owned Crown mineral rights.
Highlights: Greater than 98% recovery of lithium from the Boardwalk project brine. G2L DLE produced the highest-purity concentrated lithium solution (eluate) of the 15 technologies tested or assessed to date. Greater than 90% reduction of calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), chlorine (Cl) impurities in the eluate.
G2L DLE produced lithium eluate concentration of greater than 3,000 milligrams/litre (three grams/L) Li. This represents greater than 40-fold increase in lithium concentration from feedstock; greater than 40-fold volume reduction of brine post-DLE processing.
Reagents used in the G2L DLE processing are approximately one-third of the cost of those used in the DLE process that was used in the company’s maiden Boardwalk preliminary economic assessment published in May, 2023. The reagents in the existing PEA accounted for 54 per cent of the total operating costs.
Results anticipated to be included in an updated Boardwalk PEA expected in late 2023. Pilot plant testing with G2L continuous DLE (cDLE) technology, at a rate of up to 10,000 litres per day, to commence Q1 2024.
“The test results from G2L represent a significant improvement in the overall purity of the concentrated brine, or eluate, from the existing DLE process we employed in our existing PEA,” commented LithiumBank chief operating officer Kevin Piepgrass. “We are very pleased because we can achieve this purity level using lower-cost reagents that are readily available in central Alberta. The high-grade eluate of over 3,000 mg/L lithium represents a 40-fold reduction in brine volume which significantly reduces downstream handling and processing of the brine post-DLE concentration.”
“We are excited to continue optimizing our cDLE process for the Boardwalk project brine,” commented Peter Voigt, chief technology officer of G2L. “Our focus will remain on maximizing the recovery and purity of lithium while reducing operating and capital costs. We believe further efficiencies can be achieved when we start testing our technology in the cDLE pilot plant that is being shipped to LithiumBank this month.”
LithiumBank has undertaken testing of the G2L DLE process to determine the suitability of the technology for Boardwalk lithium-rich brine. Test work produced a high-purity eluate with lithium concentrations between 3,000 and 7,000 mg/L (three to seven g/L), with low levels of impurities. Eluate concentrations of Ca, Na and Cl were reduced by 90% when compared with results used in another DLE process which was employed in the existing PEA. Furthermore, the G2L cDLE process also reduced the eluate concentrations of magnesium (Mg) and boron (B) by 38% and 57%, respectively. These results are considered very favourable as higher lithium and lower impurity concentrations in the eluate require a smaller processing plant post-DLE and may reduce the cost of further impurity removal steps.
LithiumBank has entered into an intellectual property licence agreement dated Sept. 8, 2023, as previously announced on Sept. 11, 2023, with G2L, a subsidiary of Go2Lithium Inc., whereby G2L agreed to grant to the company a licence in Alberta and Saskatchewan for a full suite of continuous ion exchange technologies. The DLE technology will be used to extract lithium salts from enriched brines present at the company’s lithium development projects.
G2L has also agreed to provide the company with access to a deployment-ready pilot plant that has been previously operating in Australia.
The company issued the first four million common shares in the capital of the company to G2L pursuant to the licence agreement.
Pursuant to the terms of the licence agreement, in consideration for the licence, LithumBank has agreed to issue up to an aggregate of 14 million shares to G2L.
LithiumBank Resources is a publicly traded lithium company that is focused on developing its two flagship projects, Boardwalk and Park Place, in Western Canada. The company holds 2,480,196 acres of brownfield lithium brine permits, across three districts in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
In May, 2023, LithiumBank completed an initial robust preliminary economic assessment of its Boardwalk project that targets a 31,350-tonne-per-annum operation with a pretax US$2.7-billion net present value and a 21.6% internal rate of return with the potential for a number of near-term enhancements.
