Jun 27, 2024

American Lithium Announces Strong Progress on Falchani Flow Sheet Optimization and Intent to Commence Pilot Work During H2 2024

American Lithium Corp. (“American Lithium” or the “Company”) (TSX-V:LI | Nasdaq:AMLI | Frankfurt:5LA1) is pleased to provide an update on the optimization of the Falchani processing flow-sheet. This update is based on recently completed, and ongoing, test work at Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization Laboratories in Sydney, Australia (“ANSTO”) in conjunction with TECMMINE in Lima, Peru (“TECMMINE”).

The unique volcanic style of lithium mineralization at Falchani, combined with low impurity content allows its flow-sheet to resemble more conventional mining / processing flow-sheets versus most hardrock lithium projects where concentrates are produced and then shipped elsewhere for further refining into higher quality products. Falchani’s flow-sheet utilizes warm sulfuric acid leaching and impurity removal steps to produce a high purity lithium carbonate (“LC”) end product on site with purity in excess of 99.5%, typically the threshold for battery grade LC. This helps drive the robust economics, particularly the low operating costs, highlighted in the Company’s original and recently updated Preliminary Economic Assessments (“PEA’s”). There is no need for additional refining steps offshore.

The Company believes it can further reduce acid consumption and reagent costs and optimize the production of LC as well as highly economic / strategic by-products by implementing a number of additional tried and tested hydrometallurgical processing steps into the core flow-sheet. This work has yielded strong results, and the Company currently intends to commence piloting work for its Falchani Project during H2, 2024.

green map

HIGHLIGHTS FROM LATEST TEST WORK ON FALCHANI FLOW-SHEET:

  • Reduction of sulfuric acid consumption by approximately 50% from 480-500 kg per tonne (“kg/t”) (February 2024 PEA), down to 240 kg/t processed by utilizing counter-current leaching and simple recycling of acid-containing streams coupled with leach optimization.
  • Reduced acid consumption / recycling also has the implication of considerably reducing reagent requirements during final waste neutralization, which positively impacts the projected operating costs further.
  • Potential to further simplify the flow-sheet by employing Solvent Extraction (“SX”): 
    • Initial testing with SX has demonstrated potential to separate even higher purity lithium at an earlier stage with the rejection of key impurities;
    • SX may remove several processing steps from the flow-sheet leading to reduced capex and lower reagent consumption; and
    • ANSTO continues to refine / optimize the potential use of SX in the Falchani flow-sheet.
  • At $5,092/t LC, current projected operating costs for Falchani (February 2024 PEA) are already amongst the lowest globally 
    • Recent improvements / optimization steps and the introduction of higher quality by-products should materially reduce costs further.
  • Continued improvement in the specification of key by-products; 
    • Sulfate of Potash (“KSOP”) recovery has been optimized and meets the parameters of producers and traders of potassium (“K”)-based fertilizers;
    • Approximately 40% of the K available in Falchani’s Lithium mineralization can be recovered as high-quality KSOP;
    • Concentration of Cesium Sulfate (“Cs”) has improved to approximately 20% Cs content, the threshold at which it would become a commercially viable by-product.
  • TECMMINE has recently run numerous additional full cycle tests on the existing “lithium-only” flow-sheet and continues to produce high purity LC with purities between 99.50% – 99.87% LC.

Simon Clarke, CEO of American Lithium stated: “We are very excited about recent flow-sheet work in which we continue to produce high purity LC exceeding battery grade thresholds in repeated full-cycle tests giving us confidence to start piloting later this year. Recent work focusing on counter-current leaching and SX has been extremely positive not only for producing high-quality by-products with strong strategic and economic value but also for optimization and material cost reduction. We will continue to refine these additions to the flow-sheet with ANSTO and TECMMINE with the goal of also introducing them into our pilot work at the appropriate time.”

Qualified Person
Mr. Ted O’Connor, P.Geo., a Director of American Lithium, and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release.

American Lithium | www.americanlithiumcorp.com