99.6% battery-grade lithium from test samples at Quebec Project
Staff
General DPNCanada Lithium Corp. announced that metallurgical tests of sample material from its Quebec Lithium Project have successfully produced battery-grade lithium carbonate using standard flow-sheet processes.
The test samples, processed by SGS Lakefield, were designed to achieve the standard 99% lithium carbonate; however, the program exceeded initial design criteria and actually achieved a grade of 99.6% Li2CO3 (lithium carbonate). Additional polishing is expected to produce a higher grade product.
“As an initial trial run with this material, we were cautiously optimistic that we might at best approach the 99.5% threshold for battery-grade lithium,” Company President and CEO Peter Secker said. “So we’re very pleased that we have exceeded the benchmark at this stage of the project using conventional processing techniques.”
The samples were processed and analyzed in several batches and consistent results were achieved. The processed material will be shipped to Mitsui and Co. Limited in Japan. Mitsui is an international trading house that signed a marketing agreement with Canada Lithium in April 2009, granting Mitsui exclusive rights to market lithium (produced from Canada Lithium’s Quebec Project) in Japan, Korea and China until April 2010. Mitsui retains an option to extend the agreement annually for six subsequent years.
As a result of this early success, Canada Lithium is working with SGS Lakefield to develop a pilot scale test, planned to commence in January 2010, to produce additional battery-grade material for pre-marketing purposes.
