Clean lithium developer Lake Resources (ASX: LKE) has completed the onsite construction of a modular processing demonstration plant for its Kachi lithium project in Argentina.
Wet and dry commissioning took place in September and October and the plant is now processing Kachi brines with final optimisation of the flowsheet nearing completion.
A team from Kachi project partner Lilac Solutions has been onsite to ensure successful assembly and commissioning of the modular plant, which was transported in shipping containers to the Catamarca Province site.
Initial work is reported to have delivered an “at spec” product, achieving 80% lithium recoveries.
It will underpin the final engineering design prior to construction of a commercial-scale facility.
Lake expects the first samples of lithium chloride will be shipped for conversion to lithium carbonate within the fortnight.
The shipment will then be qualified by a tier one battery maker to validate product specifications and fast-track commercial production.
Desired specifications
Lake chief executive officer David Dickson was pleased to see initial test results achieving the desired specifications.
“This validates the many years of testing which took place at Lilac’s California-based facility while access to the site was restricted during the global pandemic,” he said.
“We look forward to seeing the test work move into steady state and then for the process to be validated so that the definitive feasibility study can be completed.”
He said Lilac’s scalable, low-cost method of producing high purity lithium would disrupt the battery materials supply industry as it could deliver consistent product quality with a smaller environmental footprint than conventional brine processing technologies.
Next steps
Lake is continuing its discussions international and domestic investment banks and financial market participants as it moves toward a final investment decision for Kachi in 2023.
The company also plans to make several executive and board appointments before year end as it transitions from an explorer to developer and producer.
