Lithium Extraction Using Roasting And Water Leaching On TLC Claystones

VANCOUVER - American Lithium Corp. reported details of a recent breakthrough on process development at its Tonopah Lithium Claims Project (TLC) located close to Tonopah, Nevada.

Highlights: Ongoing process work at Hazen Research Inc. has shown that roasting TLC lithium bearing claystones with sulfate and chloride salts, followed by water leaching, results in 82% of lithium being extracted with a significantly lower impurity load as compared to acid leaching; Full roasting/water leaching results will be compared to results for sulfuric acid leaching to ascertain which method is best from an economic and environmental perspective; TLC claystone mineralization continues to demonstrate exceptional ability to be concentrated and amenable to multiple process options with lithium carbonate having already been produced; and This latest round of process work is focused on optimizing flow-sheet design to deliver strong environmental and economic benefits to enable a robust Preliminary Economic Assessment.

Laurence Stefan, COO, said, “The early success of roasting demonstrates once again the robust nature of the TLC lithium resource and its processing versatility. This new metallurgical approach opens the door widely to produce either lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide or both from the TLC project. The extremely low level of impurities in the leachate provides many advantages over the successful sulfuric acid leaching technique that has been the focus to date. We are excited to investigate the roasting route further and will be comparing the overall environmental and economic profiles of each route to make the best decision for the project moving forward.”