TIDMEMH
RNS Number : 9237S
European Metals Holdings Limited
09 November 2023
For immediate release
9 November 2023
European Metals Holdings Limited
("European Metals" or the "Company")
Successful Battery-Grade pilot programme for Cinovec Lithium
Project
European Metals Holdings Limited (ASX & AIM: EMH) ("
European Metals " or the " Company " ) is pleased to announce the
results of the Lithium Chemical Plant ("LCP") pilot programme,
confirming the robustness of the Cinovec LCP process flowsheet and
providing a strong foundation for the execution of the Cinovec
Project.
Highlights
-- Pilot programme has confirmed industrial viability of the LCP process flowsheet.
-- Exceptionally clean battery grade lithium carbonate
(>99.9%) produced with single-stage purification (bicarbonation)
of crude lithium carbonate.
-- Pilot programme crude lithium carbonate confirmed at 99.7%
purity, greater than battery grade (99.5%) in the carbonate
precipitation step without any additional processing.
-- Work to produce battery grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate is underway.
-- The pilot programme processed ore fully-representative in all
respects of the run-of-mine for the first seven years of mining
planned at Cinovec, including average grade and expected rock-type
mix from the bulk mining.
Executive Chairman, Keith Coughlan, said:
"The confirmation of the exceptionally clean nature of the
Cinovec Lithium Carbonate resulting from the pilot programme is
further proof of the tremendous importance of the Cinovec Lithium
Project for the whole of the EU. The Lithium Carbonate produced by
the simplified flowsheet has the ability to be a major contributor
to the EU's lithium security. The Cinovec Project is well
positioned to be a major supplier of battery grade lithium products
to the strategically important European car industry to ensure that
they are able to compete on the global stage.
The pilot programme data is now being used to confirm design and
engineering for the ongoing Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS)
being completed by DRA Global and which remains on-track for
completion in the current quarter, and also for the post-DFS
detailed design.
European Metals, in developing the Cinovec Lithium Project, is
well positioned for the rising demand in battery materials in the
EU. The Cinovec project is the largest hard rock lithium project in
the EU and Europe as a whole and is centrally located on the Czech
Republic's border with Germany."
Pilot Programme
The pilot programme, which took place at ALS Laboratories in
Perth, WA, set out to confirm the LCP flowsheet which was the
subject of the Company's ASX/AIM announcement of 31 October 2022 "
Simplified Extraction Process delivers exceptionally-clean
battery-grade lithium product with improved economics " and to
produce sufficient marketing samples for potential offtakers to
test in their own laboratories.
The pilot programme has achieved these objectives without
necessitating any further development of the LCP process
flowsheet.
In doing so, the pilot programme has provided extensive data
throughout all of the LCP process steps. This data contributes to
the confirmation of design and engineering for both the ongoing
Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") and the post-DFS execution of
the Project.
Next Stage of Development of Cinovec
The DFS for battery-grade Lithium Carbonate remains on-track for
completion in Q4 2023. Subject to confirmation of the pilot
programme work for battery grade Lithium Hydroxide, a decision on
the battery grade end-product (carbonate vs hydroxide) for the
Cinovec Project is expected to be made in early 2024. This will
enable design engineering to proceed enabling the Project to come
into production in the shortest possible time frame and includes
engagement with long lead equipment OEMs to ensure that the
timeline is expedited. The Company will update the market as and
when appropriate.
High-Grade Lithium End-Products
The LCP flowsheet pilot programme produced the following crude
and battery-grade lithium carbonate products, compared with the
published global standard specification, YS/T 582-2013 and the
crude and battery grade lithium carbonate products produced in the
Cinovec locked cycle tests reported in the Company's ASX/AIM
announcement of 31 October 2022 " Simplified Extraction Process
delivers exceptionally-clean battery-grade lithium product with
improved economics ".
It can be seen that in respect of the majority of the limits
specified by standard YS/T 582-2013, being the elements or chemical
species of interest to cathode manufacturers, for both the crude
and the battery grade lithium carbonate products, the
semi-industrial scale continuously piloted results are superior to
the results from the locked cycle tests which were bench-scale
tests of a batch processing nature.
These results confirm the robustness of the Cinovec LCP process
flowsheet and provide a strong foundation for the execution of the
Cinovec Project.
In both the LCT and the piloted battery-grade lithium carbonate,
the end-product was produced in a single bicarbonation step. This
places an important limitation on operational expenditure in the
final processing stages, avoiding the need for repeated
bicarbonation steps or for blending of technical grade lithium
carbonate produced with battery grade lithium carbonate, to just
achieve battery grade with an assay average, a common step in some
lithium carbonate plants.
Li(2) Na K Mg Ca Mn Fe Ni Cu Zn Al Si Pb SO(4) Cl
CO(3) (2)
-
% ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm
YS/T
582-2013 >=99.5 250 10 80 50 3 10 10 3 3 10 30 3 800 30
------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ------ -----
Crude
LC
LCTs 99.4 368 3 5 357 0 8 3.4 0.2 1.2 5.1 26 0 4860 59
------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ------ -----
Crude
LC
PILOT 99.7 367 2.8 4.4 53.8 0.1 4.0 0.2 0.1 0.9 0.9 4.1 <0.1 2420 50
------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ------ -----
Battery
Grade
LC
LCTs 99.9 3 0.8 0.9 2 0.7 6.3 3.4 0.2 1.3 2.8 2.1 0.07 95 <10
------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ------ -----
Battery
Grade
LC
PILOT 99.9 4.7 0.3 0.5 1.6 1.0 0.7 5.4 0.1 0.5 0.6 2.0 0.05 164 27
------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ------ -----
Battery-Grade Lithium Carbonate - Extended Assay Table
The extended assay table presented below includes the 14
elements in the published lithium carbonate battery-grade standard,
YS/T 582-2013, (top table) together with the further 9 elemental
impurities that are important to minimise for the manufacture of
cathodes / batteries (bottom table).
The battery-grade lithium carbonate assays were assessed by
LabWest Minerals Analysis Pty Ltd, Perth.
LabWest was used as it has world-leading detection limits for
assaying lithium chemicals, with detection limits for the assayed
elements shown in the tables below of between 0.01 to 500 ppb
(0.00001 to 0.5 ppm).
Li(2) Na K Mg Ca Mn Fe Ni Cu Zn Al Si Pb SO(4) Cl
CO(3) (2)
-
% ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm
YS/T
582-2013 >=99.5 250 10 80 50 3 10 10 3 3 10 30 3 800 30
------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ------ -----
Battery
Grade
LC
LCTs 99.9 3 0.8 0.9 2 0.7 6.3 3.4 0.2 1.3 2.8 2.1 0.07 95 <10
------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ------ -----
Battery
Grade
LC
PILOT 99.9 4.7 0.3 0.5 1.6 1.0 0.7 5.4 0.1 0.5 0.6 2.0 0.05 164 27
------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ------ -----
As B Cr Cs F Mo P Rb Sr
ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm
YS/T NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
582-2013
----- ----- ----- -------- ----- ------- ----- ------- -------
Battery
Grade
LC
LCTs 0.17 2.2 0.26 <0.0001 20 0.0518 29.2 0.0026 0.0164
----- ----- ----- -------- ----- ------- ----- ------- -------
Battery
Grade
LC
PILOT 0.02 2.3 0.10 0.001 5 0.01 124 0.008 0.018
----- ----- ----- -------- ----- ------- ----- ------- -------
This announcement has been approved for release by the
Board.
CONTACT
For further information on this update or the Company generally,
please visit our website at www.europeanmet.com or see full contact
details at the end of this release.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON CINOVEC
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Cinovec Lithium Project
Geomet s.r.o. controls the mineral exploration licenses awarded
by the Czech State over the Cinovec Lithium Project. Geomet has
been granted a preliminary mining permit by the Ministry of
Environment and the Ministry of Industry. The company is owned 49%
by EMH and 51% by CEZ a.s. through its wholly owned subsidiary,
SDAS. Cinovec hosts a globally significant hard rock lithium
deposit with a total Measured Mineral Resource of 53.3Mt at 0.48%
Li(2) O, Indicated Mineral Resource of 360.2Mt at 0.44% Li(2) O and
an Inferred Mineral Resource of 294.7Mt at 0.39% Li(2) O containing
a combined 7.39 million tonnes Lithium Carbonate Equivalent ( refer
to the Company's ASX/AIM release dated 13 October 2021 ) ( Resource
Upgrade at Cinovec Lithium Project ).
An initial Probable Ore Reserve of 34.5Mt at 0.65% Li(2) O
reported 4 July 2017 ( Cinovec Maiden Ore Reserve - Further
Information ) has been declared to cover the first 20 years mining
at an output of 22,500tpa of lithium carbonate ( refer to the
Company's ASX/AIM release dated 11 July 2018) ( Cinovec Production
Modelled to Increase to 22,500tpa of Lithium Carbonate ).
This makes Cinovec the largest hard rock lithium deposit in
Europe and the fifth largest non-brine deposit in the world.
The deposit has previously had over 400,000 tonnes of ore mined
as a trial sub-level open stope underground mining operation.
On 19 January 2022, EMH provided an update to the 2019 PFS
Update, conducted by specialist independent consultants, which
indicates a post-tax NPV of USD1.938B and a post-tax IRR of 36.3%
and confirmed that the Cinovec Project is a potential low operating
cost producer of battery-grade lithium hydroxide or battery grade
lithium carbonate as markets demand. It confirmed the deposit is
amenable to bulk underground mining (refer to the Company's ASX/AIM
release dated 19 January 2022) ( PFS Update delivers outstanding
results ). Metallurgical test-work has produced both battery-grade
lithium hydroxide and battery-grade lithium carbonate at excellent
recoveries. Cinovec is centrally located for European end-users and
is well serviced by infrastructure, with a sealed road adjacent to
the deposit, rail lines located 5 km north and 8 km south of the
deposit, and an active 22 kV transmission line running to the
historic mine. As the deposit lies in an active mining region, it
has strong community support.
The economic viability of Cinovec has been enhanced by the
recent strong increase in demand for lithium globally, and within
Europe specifically.
There are no other material changes to the original information
and all the material assumptions continue to apply to the
forecasts.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON CEZ
Headquartered in the Czech Republic, CEZ a.s. is an established,
integrated energy group with operations in a number of Central and
South-eastern European countries and Turkey. CEZ's core business is
the generation, distribution, trade in, and sales of electri city
and heat, trade in and sales of natural gas, and coal extraction.
CEZ Group is one of the ten largest energy companies in Europe, has
28,000 employees and annual revenue of approximately EUR 9.97
billion.
The largest shareholder of its parent company, CEZ a.s., is the
Czech Republic with a stake of approximately 70%. The shares of CEZ
a.s. are traded on the Prague and Warsaw stock exchanges and
included in the PX and WIG-CEE exchange indices. CEZ's market
capitalization is approximately EUR 17.7 billion.
As one of the leading Central European power companies, CEZ
intends to develop several projects in areas of energy storage and
battery manufacturing in the Czech Republic and in Central
Europe.
CEZ is also a market leader for E-mobility in the region and has
installed and operates a network of EV charging stations throughout
Czech Republic. The automotive industry in the Czech Republic is a
significant contributor to GDP, and the number of EV's in the
country is expected to grow significantly in the coming years.
COMPETENT PERSONS
Information in this announcement relating to the FECAB
metallurgical testwork is based on technical data compiled or
supervised by Mr Walter Mädel, a full-time employee of Geomet s.r.o
a subsidiary of the Company. Mr Mädel is a member of the
Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AUSIMM) and a
mineral processing professional with over 27 years of experience in
metallurgical process and project development, process design,
project implementation and operations. Of his experience, at least
5 years have been specifically focused on hard rock pegmatite
Lithium processing development. Mr Mädel consents to the inclusion
in the announcement of the matters based on this information in the
form and context in which it appears. Mr Mädel is a participant in
the long-term incentive plan of the Company.
Information in this release that relates to exploration results
is based on information compiled by Dr Vojtech Sesulka. Dr Sesulka
is a Certified Professional Geologist (certified by the European
Federation of Geologists), a member of the Czech Association of
Economic Geologist, and a Competent Person as defined in the JORC
Code 2012 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of
Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Dr Sesulka
has provided his prior written consent to the inclusion in this
report of the matters based on his information in the form and
context in which it appears. Dr Sesulka is an independent
consultant with more than 10 years working for the EMH or Geomet
companies. Dr Sesulka does not own any shares in the Company and is
not a participant in any short- or long-term incentive plans of the
Company .
Mr Grant Harman (B.Sc Chem Eng, B.Com) is an independent
consultant with in excess of 7 years of lithium chemicals
experience. Mr Harman supervised and reviewed the metallurgical
test work and the process design criteria and flow sheets in
relation to the LCP. Mr Harman is a participant in the long-term
incentive plan of the Company.
The information in this release that relates to Mineral
Resources and Exploration Targets is based on, and fairly reflects,
information and supporting documentation prepared by Mr Lynn
Widenbar. Mr Widenbar, who is a Member of the Australasian
Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a Member of the Australasian
Institute of Geoscientists, is a full-time employee of Widenbar and
Associates and produced the estimate based on data and geological
information supplied by European Metals. Mr Widenbar has sufficient
experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type
of deposit under consideration and to the activity that he is
undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the JORC
Code 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of
Exploration Results, Minerals Resources and Ore Reserves. Mr
Widenbar has provided his prior written consent to the inclusion in
this report of the matters based on his information in the form and
context that the information appears. Mr Widenbar does not own any
shares in the Company and is not a participant in any short- or
long-term incentive plans of the Company .
The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information
or data that materially affects the information included in the
original market announcement and, in the case of estimates of
Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves, that all material assumptions
and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the relevant
market announcement continue to apply and have not materially
changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which
the Competent Person's findings are presented have not been
materially modified from the original market announcement.
CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Information included in this release constitutes forward-looking
statements. Often, but not always, forward looking statements can
generally be identified by the use of forward looking words such as
"may", "will", "expect", "intend", "plan", "estimate",
"anticipate", "continue", and "guidance", or other similar words
and may include, without limitation, sta tements regarding plans,
strategies and objectives of management, anticipated production or
construction commencement dates and expected costs or production
outputs.
Forward looking statements inherently involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the company's
actual results, performance, and achievements to differ materially
from any future results, performance, or achievements. Relevant
factors may include, but are not limited to, changes in commodity
prices, foreign exchange fluctuations and general economic
conditions, increased costs and demand for production inputs, the
speculative nature of exploration and project development,
including the risks of obtaining necessary licences and permits and
diminishing quantities or grades of reserves, political and social
risks, changes to the regulatory framework within which the company
operates or may in the future operate, environmental conditions
including extreme weather conditions, recruitment and retention of
personnel, industrial relations issues and litigation.
Forward looking statements are based on the company and its
management's good faith assumptions relating to the financial,
market, regulatory and other relevant environments that will exist
and affect the company's business and operations in the future. The
company does not give any assurance that the assumptions on which
forward looking statements are based will prove to be correct, or
that the company's business or operations will not be affected in
any material manner by these or other factors not foreseen or
foreseeable by the company or management or beyond the company's
control.
Although the company attempts and has attempted to identify
factors that would cause actual actions, events or results to
differ materially from those disclosed in forward looking
statements, there may be other factors that could cause actual
results, performance, achievements or events not to be as
anticipated, estimated or intended, and many events are beyond the
reasonable control of the company. Accordingly, readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward looking
statements. Forward looking statements in these materials speak
only at the date of issue. Subject to any continuing obligations
under applicable law or any relevant stock exchange listing rules,
in providing this information the company does not undertake any
obligation to publicly update or revise any of the forward looking
statements or to advise of any change in events, conditions or
circumstances on which any such statement is based.
LITHIUM CLASSIFICATION AND CONVERSION FACTORS
Lithium grades are normally presented in percentages or parts
per million (ppm). Grades of deposits are also expressed as lithium
compounds in percentages, for example as a percent lithium oxide
(Li(2) O) content or percent lithium carbonate (Li(2) CO(3) )
content.
Lithium carbonate equivalent ("LCE") is the industry standard
terminology for, and is equivalent to, Li(2) CO(3) . Use of LCE is
to provide data comparable with industry reports and is the total
equivalent amount of lithium carbonate, assuming the lithium
content in the deposit is converted to lithium carbonate, using the
conversion rates in the table included below to get an equivalent
Li(2) CO(3) value in percent. Use of LCE assumes 100% recovery and
no process losses in the extraction of Li(2) CO(3) from the
deposit.
Lithium resources and reserves are usually presented in tonnes
of LCE or Li.
The standard conversion factors are set out in the table
below:
Table: Conversion Factors for Lithium Compounds and Minerals
Convert from Convert to Li(2) Convert to LiOH.H(2)
Convert to Li Convert to Li(2) O CO(3) O
Lithium Li 1.000 2.153 5.325 6.048
------------- -------------- ------------------- --------------------- ----------------------
Lithium Oxide Li(2) O 0.464 1.000 2.473 2.809
------------- -------------- ------------------- --------------------- ----------------------
Lithium Carbonate Li(2) CO(3) 0.188 0.404 1.000 1.136
------------- -------------- ------------------- --------------------- ----------------------
Lithium Hydroxide LiOH.H(2) O 0.165 0.356 0.880 1.000
------------- -------------- ------------------- --------------------- ----------------------
Lithium Fluoride LiF 0.268 0.576 1.424 1.618
------------- -------------- ------------------- --------------------- ----------------------
WEBSITE
A copy of this announcement is available from the Company's
website at www.europeanmet.com/announcements/ .
ENQUIRIES:
European Metals Holdings Limited
Keith Coughlan, Executive Chairman Tel: +61 (0) 419 996 333
Email: keith@europeanmet.com
Kiran Morzaria, Non-Executive Tel: +44 (0) 20 7440 0647
Director
Tel: +61 (0) 418 675 845
Shannon Robinson, Company Secretary Email: shannon@europeanmet.com
WH Ireland Ltd (Nomad & Broker)
James Joyce / Darshan Patel / Tel: +44 (0) 20 7220 1666
Isaac Hooper
(Corporate Finance)
Harry Ansell (Broking)
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Joint
Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 20 7886 2500
John Prior
Hugh Rich
James Sinclair Ford
Harriette Johnson
Blytheweigh (Financial PR) Tel: +44 (0) 20 7138 3222
Tim Blythe
Megan Ray
Chapter 1 Advisors (Financial
PR - Aus) Tel: +61 (0) 433 112 936
David Tasker
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by
the Company to constitute inside information under the Market Abuse
Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR") as it forms part of UK
domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018
and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under
Article 17 of MAR.
The person who authorised for the release of this announcement
on behalf of the Company was Keith Coughlan, Executive
Chairman.
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