ASX-listed Lithium Universe has joined forces with the traditional landowners of the site near Québec City in Canada where the company is planning to construct its Bécancour Lithium Refinery.
Management has today confirmed it has formed a joint committee with the W8banaki Nation’s tribal council to assist with site impact assessment and the construction of the facility while it completes a definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the project.
The W8banakiak people historically occupied vast forested areas now known as southern Québec, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, as well as parts of Massachusetts and New Brunswick before the arrival of European settlers. As the traditional landowners of the Bécancour Industrial Park (BIP), the W8banakiak people have years of experience in collaborating with the chemicals industry and the lithium battery supply chain.
The site for Lithium Universe’s Bécancour Lithium Refinery project (BLRP) is strategically situated in the city of Bécancour, just south of Trois-Rivières, and is optimally positioned between Montreal and Québec City near a major highway, port and rail network. The plant that is currently under design will look to refine spodumene on behalf of the multiple emerging lithium hopefuls flooding into the broader Québec region, including those in James Bay – an area that features globally-significant spodumene resources, with more than 500 million tonnes of resources grading at more than 1 per cent lithium oxide.
Lithium Universe chairman Iggy Tan said: “It has been a pleasure to get to know the W8banaki representatives over the past few months. The W8banaki representatives are a very practical group who have a deep understanding of the battery supply chain having extensive experience managing similar committees and impact assessment studies for our battery-focussed neighbours in the Bécancour Industrial Park.”
The company has plans for a 16,000 tonnes per annum battery-grade lithium carbonate refinery that has been designed to mirror the world-class Jiangsu Lithium Carbonate Plant in China.
Lithium Universe has procured the services of leading engineering firm Hatch to undertake a comprehensive study and design of the BLRP for the in-progress DFS. A preliminary 3D model and plot plan layout have already been completed, in addition to two recent environmental study approvals at the Bécancour site.
Management has directed its initiatives at a lithium carbonate product rather than lithium hydroxide due to its widespread use in increasingly-popular lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. LFP batteries are gaining favour for use in electric vehicle (EV) applications due to their lower costs, longer shelf life and superior stability when compared with lithium hydroxide-made products.
The BLRP’s design inspiration in Jiangsu is the largest-capacity battery-grade lithium carbonate plant in the Asia Pacific region and is widely regarded as a global benchmark for lithium refineries. It was built by Lithium Universe executives Iggy Tan, Dr Jingyuan Liu and John Loxton during their time with Galaxy Resources.
Tan, Liu and Loxton previously worked with Hatch on the design, construction and commissioning of the Jiangsu plant, which was subsequently sold to China’s Sichuan Tianqi Lithium in 2014 for some $132 million.
As the world-leading Jiangsu plant exists on the other side of the world, Lithium Universe says it is critical that its proposed refinery has the capability to efficiently process spodumene feedstock from diverse sources worldwide. To that end, the company will target a diverse assumed feed grade for its plant of between 5 and 6 per cent lithium oxide.
Lithium Universe has been charging on with its DFS despite the recent lithium downturn. It has now also committed to its collaboration with the W8banaki Nation in a deal expected to help smooth out the development process before the next lithium spodumene price run.
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By Andrew Todd
