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.
Table 1: Pilot Plant Sample Head Assay
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.