Infinity Lithium has hit a milestone with the successful production of lithium hydroxide using recycled reagents, a feat that the company said proves the viability of its processing flowsheet for the San José project in Spain.
The achievement, which concludes the pre-feasibility test work, also confirms or exceeds the assumptions of the scoping study released in 2018, which included the recycling and reuse of potassium sulphate in the roasting and leaching process.
Infinity uses a mix of potassium sulphate and sodium sulphate chemicals, both of which are readily available in Spain, in the roasting process to leach lithium into fresh water.
This process also neatly sidesteps the need for sulphuric acid during the post-roast leaching process, which is a plus for the company given the San José’s location in Europe, one of the world’s most environmentally conscious jurisdictions.
Adding further interest, the test work has also identified multiple opportunities for process optimisation that can be evaluated after the pre-feasibility study is complete.
Infinity expects to finalise the capital and operating costs within the next week, enabling the company to complete and release the project’s full pre-feasibility study.
San José currently has a JORC compliant mineral resource of 111.3 million tonnes grading 0.61% lithium oxide and 206 parts per million tin, more than 90% of which is in the higher confidence indicated category.
While this resource is contained within the comparatively lower grade lepidolite mica mineralisation, a commercial gas pipeline running straight past the project just 1km away provides a ready source of energy for the intensive roasting process to extract the lithium.
The project also benefits from the strong anticipated demand for battery chemicals in Europe, where the European Union has been ramping up efforts to build a competitive local lithium-ion battery manufacturing chain.
By Matt Birney
