PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A definitive feasibility study (DFS) into the Kachi lithium project, in Argentina, would consider a 50 000 t/y base-case production scenario, ASX-listed Lake Resources said on Wednesday.
The DFS will be expanded from 25 500 t/y to 50 000 t/y, underpinned by an anticipated increased resource estimate from drilling results, Lake said, noting that a formal decision to increase the size of the project was driven by the increasing demand by prospective offtake partners for a secure supply chain of environment-friendly high purity lithium carbonate, and the indicative support to fund the project by Export Credit Agencies and the international bank panel.
The decision was also driven by the supportive investment policies of the Argentine government and the confidence of technology partner Lilac Solutions that its modular direct lithium extraction technology is scalable and cost-effective.
“Given the increasing demand and the significant lithium supply gap, Lake is focused on delivering high purity lithium carbonate at scale with meaningful environmental and social governance benefits,” Lake MD Steve Promnitz said.
“Lake has received indicative financial support for an increase in the size of the Kachi project from the Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) of the UK and Canada and the numerous international ECA-supported banks. Also, Lake’s technology partner, Lilac Solutions, is focused on advancing the Kachi project at this larger scale.”
The DFS is due in the second quarter.
A previously completed updated prefeasibility study estimated that the project could produce 25 500 t/y of lithium carbonate over a mine life of 25 years, with capital costs estimated at $540-million.