Critical Elements produces battery grade lithium hydroxide in Rose project pilot  

Critical Elements Lithium (TSXV: CRE; US-OTC: CRECF) has converted spodumene concentrate from its Rose project in northern Quebec into battery grade lithium hydroxide using a thermal leaching process in a pilot program, the company said.  

The company had announced similar results in October 2018 when a pilot program demonstrated extraction rates of 93%, surpassing the world average of 70-75%. This time, the program, conducted at the Metso Outotec’s Research Center in Finland, produced extraction and conversion rates of 92%, the Quebec-based company said. 

“The goal was to reconfirm the extraction and improve the impurity profile of the material. That’s what we achieved,” the company CEO, Jean-Sébastien Lavallée, told The Northern Miner. “We also wanted to get more data for the final selection of equipment.”  

Located on the territory of Eeyou Istchee James Bay, about 40 km north of the Cree village of Nemaska, the Rose lithium-tantalum property covers 700 sq. km. The project has probable reserves of 26.8 million tonnes grading 0.85% lithium oxide.   

Based on a feasibility study in 2017, the project could produce an average of 186,327 tonnes of chemical grade lithium concentrate, 50,205 tonnes of technical grade lithium and 429 tonnes of tantalum annually over a mine life of 17 years. The study pegged capital costs at $341.2 million. 

The internal rate of return for the project was estimated at 34.9% after taxes, with a net present value of $726 million at an 8% discount rate. The study used a price assumption of US$1,500 per tonne technical grade lithium concentrate, US$750 per tonne chemical grade lithium concentrate, and US$130 per kg tantalum pentoxide.  

Construction is expected to begin in spring 2023, Lavallee said, and the mine is likely to take about 15 months to be built.  

The world’s push to meet its net-zero goals by 2050 has led to an increase in demand for lithium in recent years. According to a recent Benchmark analysis, the lithium industry needs US$7 billion of investment each year from now until 2028 to meet the 2030 lithium demand.  

“These requirements come as Europe and North America look to reduce their reliance on foreign supply and improve sustainability by developing local lithium production,” Benchmark said in a report published on May 13.  

Lavalle believes that the Rose project with its “low impurity concentrate” and low reliance on carbon, can help tackle the supply gap. “There is a big [shortage] in the market now… this project will be very important, especially for the North American and European markets,” he said.  

In mid-May, the project’s rehabilitation and restoration plan, which is a prerequisite to the granting of the mining lease, was approved the company said.  

In August 2021, the project received a favourable decision on the environmental assessment. The minister of environment and climate change confirmed that the Rose was not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects when mitigation measures are taken into account.  

The final remaining step is the completion of the provincial permitting process, which runs parallel to the federal process. 

At mid-day in Toronto, shares of Critical Elements Lithium were trading at $1.42, up 13¢ or 10%, within a 52-week trading range of $1.13 to $1.98. The company has 205.1 million common shares outstanding.