Lithium Australia Updates on its Raw Materials Strategy 2020; Plans Drilling for Metcalf Deposit

Lithium Australia NL (ASX:LIT), aiming to ensure an ethical, sustainable and efficient supply of energy metals to the battery industry, has announced an Exploration Progress Update highlighting its Raw Materials Strategy For 2020 and beyond, adding to its recent announcement of 19 March 2020.

The Company’s raw materials division is focussed on setting up a quality lithium resource base for providing feed options for a downstream processing facility that may include the Company’s proprietary LieNA® process.

Lithium Australia’s Medcalf Project offers a potential internal source of spodumene feed, apart from extracting lithium minerals from third-party mine-waste streams, for the Company’s business of experimental LieNA® lithium extraction.

Medcalf Spodumene Deposit

Last year, strongly mineralised lithium-bearing pegmatite swarms were identified at Medcalf Project, located near Lake Johnston in Western Australia, with the dominant lithium mineral being spodumene (announced on 15 April 2019). Additionally, Lithium Australia had highlighted some key features of the Medcalf prospect in the announcement such as:

• A cluster of stacked pegmatite dikes with high amount of spodumene, outcropping over a 450 m by 100 m strike; and
• subsequently, a soil geochemistry programme covering an area of 1,300 m x 700 m had generated lithium-in-soil anomalies that indicate possible extensions under cover.

In the announcement made on 15 April 2019, the Company had included an Exploration Target for the Medcalf prospect based upon the potential quantity of mineralisation present, in the range of: 5 million tonnes to 8 million tonnes at 0.8% lithium oxide (Li₂O) to 1.2% Li₂O.

The size potential of this Exploration Target was based upon the results of geological mapping and rock-chip geochemistry of the outcropping mineralised pegmatites, and the Lithium geochemical soil anomaly. Furthermore, the dyke swarm may be explained as having:

• a strike length of between 300 m and 500 m;
• an assumed down-dip extent of 200 m;
• at least 10 dykes, with each being 3 m thick on an average; and
• a bulk density of 2.7 g/cm³.

The grade potential of the Exploration Target is derived from 10 rock chip samples of spodumene-bearing rock, that averaged 3.6% Li₂O while around one-third of each pegmatite is spodumene bearing, demonstrating a potential grade range of up to 1.2% Li₂O, basis observations from the field.

Outlook

Most of the spodumene-bearing pegmatites in the Medcalf prospect examined so far form in a swarm centered upon “Bontempelli Hill”. The pegmatite swarm encompasses a minimum of 20 individual dykes, ranging from 20 m to 120 m in length and 1 m to 5 m wide in outcrop. Moreover, the soil geochemistry results signal possibility of other potentially mineralised pegmatites that do not outcrop.

Lithium Australia is planning to broaden its geological and geochemical knowledge via further undertaking targeted programmes of mapping and geochemistry.

At the same time, the Company is seeking approvals, to commence drilling at Medcalf spodumene, from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) for a programme of work and a botanical study. The initial drilling programme is targeted to be completed during the second quarter of 2020 and will comprise around 12 reverse circulation drill holes for 2,500 metres, including provision for additional holes.

Lithium Australia’s LieNA® Processing Technology

The LieNA® process is being advanced further through R&D as it offers an innovative and possibly more efficient pathway for treatment of lithium mineral spodumene. Basically, LieNA®, using caustic soda, can convert spodumene at a lower temperature as compared to thermal conversion after which the lithium is leached and recovered as trilithium phosphate.

Lithium Australia recently announced on 13 February 2020 receipt of a total grant worth $ 1.3 million from the Australian federal government’s Co-operative Research Centre Projects initiative. The leading participating researchers and companies in this R&D programme comprise Murdoch University, Curtin University, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), ALS Metallurgy Pty Ltd (ALS), Pioneer, Carnac Project Delivery Services Pty Ltd as well as VSPC Ltd ( LIT’s wholly owned subsidiary).

Lithium Australia is well on its way to create a circular battery economy through integration of lithium extraction, processing and recycling with recycling of old lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) being intrinsic to this plan.

Stock Information: On 24 March 2020, the LIT stock was trading at AUD 0.034 with ~ 1.49 million shares traded at AEDT 02:34 PM.