PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Neometals has launched a front-end engineering and design (FEED) study for its Kalgoorlie lithium hydroxide project, in Western Australia.
The company told shareholders that Germany’s M+W Group has been appointed to conduct the FEED study, which is slated for completion by the end of 2018.
The proposed lithium extraction flowsheet has been tested and will form the process design criteria from which the project FEED study will be completed, said Neometals CEO Chris Reed.
The Kalgoorlie project’s feasibility study will integrate the results of the FEED study in preparation for a request for a project investment decision in the first quarter of 2019.
Neometals and fellow-listed Mineral Resources have previously signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly assess the technical and commercial feasibility of a lithium chemical plant in the Eastern Goldfields, with a nameplate capacity of between 20 000 t/y and 25 000 t/y of lithium carbonate equivalent production.
Lithium concentrate from the jointly owned Mt Marion project will be used to produce a battery-quality, lithium hydroxide product suitable for direct sales ot the lithium ion battery industry.