TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian firm Western Lithium USA has completed all safety inspections at its Fernley, Nevada, Hectatone organoclay plant and received its business licence on Tuesday, paving the way for it to start operations.

The TSX-listed firm in October ceremoniously cut the ribbon to its Hectatone organoclay plant as part of its strategy to supply speciality clays before year-end to the oil and gas sector, before adding battery-grade lithium to its product line-up from 2018 onwards.

The plant was expected to have a gradual ramp-up in December and the company aimed to make its first commercial product by the end of the year. Western Lithium had also obtained a commitment to sell its initial Hectatone product run, as well as strong expressions of interest to buy Hectatone products from potential customers with a view to satisfying full capacity output.

Western Lithium said on Wednesday that it expected the directional drilling industry to focus on efficiencies over the next several years to compete in a lower energy price environment. The company was positioning its line of Hectatone products to provide solutions for the drilling industry to improve drilling performance and competitiveness through a variety of metrics including an improved rate of penetration and through drilling longer laterals.

"With safety inspections complete and the receipt of our business licence, we can now focus on a smooth operational ramp-up for the Fernley plant. We are monitoring the current downturn in the energy market and its impact on traditional organoclay demand. Our target products are being presented as cost-effective alternatives to products currently available in the market, which should be well received in a sector concentrating on improving efficiency,” Hectatone president Frank Wright Jr explained.

Further, the company had commissioned its lithium demonstration plant in Germany and start-up operations had been under way since mid-October to confirm the equipment’s performance at design conditions. In September, the calcination section of the plant successfully produced enough feed for the extraction plant to operate until mid-December.

A second calcination run was scheduled for the first half of January. The lithium extraction plant was currently processing the calcine produced in September and initial indications confirmed design recoveries. The crystalliser that would concentrate lithium and obtain glaserite salt was now also operational. Western Lithium pointed out that it was taking steps to have its first lithium carbonate batch ready by the end of the year, or early next year.

The company continued to have discussions with significant industrial groups and financial institutions who were interested in a strategic partnership to support Western Lithium through its next stages of Hectatone production and to develop the lithium business.