JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Metallurgical testwork on a sample from the Mina da Barroso lithium prospect has confirmed that the project, which Aim-listed Savannah Resources bought in May, has the potential to produce high-quality spodumene concentrate using conventional technologies.
Testwork confirmed a high lithium oxide head grade of 1.95% Li₂O and a low iron-oxide head grade of 0.9% Fe₂O₃. Heavy liquid separation shows that the project could produce a pure (8%) Li₂O product.
Floatation results using a simple one stage float without any optimisation achieved 83.7% Li₂O recovery at 5.9% Li₂O, which the company highlighted in a statement as “very positive”.
It also noted that the concentrate was “almost entirely spodumene with only a few minor amounts of petalite”.
“We believe that our spodumene concentrate is likely to be highly sought after by manufacturers of battery grade lithium,” CEO David Archer said.
When Savannah announced the acquisition of a 75% interest in the Mina da Barroso lithium prospect, in May, Archer said that the project could transform the European lithium and electric vehicle (EV) industry by becoming the first producer of battery-quality lithium in Europe.
Mainland Europe currently consumes about a quarter of the world’s lithium and is an early adopter of EVs and battery storage solutions, but besides small Iberian production for local ceramics use, the European Union has no internal lithium supply.