ASX-listed Infinity Lithium Corporation is ticking off the milestones at its San José lithium project in Spain with the successful completion of the next phase of metallurgical test work triggering a second investment from European government backed EIT InnoEnergy of €200,000. Under an agreement struck last year, the third and final payment of €200,000 is payable to Infinity by EIT InnoEnergy upon completion of the test work slated for the first quarter of 2022.
The metallurgical test work is being conducted in Germany by European industrial and specialty minerals producer, Dorfner Anzaplan in collaboration with Infinity’s technical advisory committee in Australia. The test work will help the company to verify pre-feasibility study process assumptions and improve process design. The results are set to form the basis of a feasibility study into battery-grade lithium hydroxide production from a full-scale San Jose project.
Infinity says the tranche 2 payment was made to Dorfer Anzaplan under the terms of the 2020 project agreement with EIT InnoEnergy, an outfit financed by the European Battery alliance, or “EBA”.
Interestingly, Volkswagen Group is the central participant of the EBA and recently made a commitment to locating one of its six lithium-ion battery plants in Spain.
Infinity says test work to date has seen bench-scale production of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate and battery-grade lithium carbonate. A concurrent pilot scale test work program has successfully progressed beyond impurity removal and evaporation in preparation for lithium, potassium and sodium recovery.
Infinity Lithium Managing Director, Ryan Parkin said: “The ability to collaborate with EIT InnoEnergy and deliver this significant milestone reinforces the commitment of the European Battery Alliance to develop a fully integrated value chain. We are appreciative of the progress despite the challenges of the pandemic, and the support of both project partners in progressing the test work. The outcomes are essential to advancing commercial offtake negotiations and we are enthused with the first samples of battery grade lithium chemicals that have been a direct result of this test work program.”
Located in the Cáceres region in western Spain, San José is the second largest hard rock lithium deposit in the European Union and boasts a mammoth 111 million tonne resource going 0.61 per cent lithium oxide.
Infinity released the findings from a scoping study on San José last month forecasting US$190m a year for 26 years in net cash flows from the production of 19,500 tonnes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide annually.
It estimates an impressive US$7.9 billion in top line revenues over the life of mine at a modelled price of US$17,000 per tonne of battery-grade lithium hydroxide.
Spain is the second largest automotive manufacturer in the European Union having produced some 2.8 million vehicles in 2019. Infinity previously reported electric vehicle registrations in the European Union surpassed diesel internal combustion engine vehicle registrations for the first time late last year.
The Spanish government is focussed on the development of the Iberian lithium-ion battery value chain in collaboration with the government of Portugal. Both countries have reaffirmed their commitment to electrify mobility, recognising the need for radical transformation of the entire value chain of the automobile sector.
As the European Union gears up towards electrifying its mobile fleet, Infinity looks set to be at the forefront of the lithium value chain in a country committed to developing its lithium assets.
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By Matt Birney
