Frontier Lithium Completes Advanced Phase Lithium Concentrate Pilot
Frontier Lithium Completes Advanced Phase
Lithium Concentrate Pilot
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% Li
2
O and 0.80% Fe
2
O
3
. 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% Li
2
O and Spark ore of
1.40% Li
2
O that was recently updated according to the
March 1
st
press release
.
Li
2
O
SiO
2
Al
2
O
3
Fe
2
O
3
MgO
CaO
Na
2
O
K
2
O
P
2
O
5
MnO
1.57
72.8
16.3
0.80
0.31
0.61
3.66
2.34
0.24
0.11
Table 1: Pilot Plant Sample Head Assay
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% Li
2
O. The
grade of concentrate produced on a per shift basis ranged from 6.4% to 5.6% Li
2
O and a bulk
sample of 640 kg was prepared at a grade of 6.13% Li
2
O and 0.76% Fe
2
O
3
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% Li
2
O 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 (%)
Li
2
O
SiO
2
Al
2
O
3
K
2
O
Na
2
O
CaO
P
2
O
5
MgO
MnO
Fe
2
O
3
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% Fe
2
O
3
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.
Figure 1 Grinding Circuit (CNW Group/Frontier Lithium Inc.)
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 Li
2
O.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.
View original content to download multimedia:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2022/30/c5689.html
%SEDAR: 00008434E
For further information:
Company Contact: Bora Ugurgel, Manager, Investor Relations, 2736
Belisle Drive Val Caron, ON. P3N 1B3 CANADA, T. +001 705.897.7622, F. +001 705.897.7618
CO: Frontier Lithium Inc.
CNW 08:00e 30-MAR-22