Sep 5 2013
Nemaska Lithium Inc. ("Nemaska" or the "Corporation") provides an update on its recent activities to move the Whabouchi lithium project and processing facility to feasibility study level.
The following is an update on the Company's current and planned activities:
Mine Permitting
Nemaska has advanced the permitting process for the mine and concentrator and is in the final stages of consultation and public hearings which should be held in the coming months. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency ("CEAA") has submitted its initial comments on Nemaska's Environmental, Social and Economic Impact study, to which Nemaska has responded. The CEAA is expected to hold public consultations on the project following its review of Nemaska's response. In addition, the Study has also been filed with the Quebec Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment, Wildlife and Parks. The Company is expecting initial comments from the Quebec Ministry in the coming weeks.
Drill Program
Nemaska has started a 3,000 meter drill program on the eastern portion of the Whabouchi deposit as well as condemnation drilling on the proposed waste and tailings site. The program should be completed by October. The company believes the in-pit drilling will expand the resource and allow for better pit optimization and extend the mine life to over 20 years. Nemaska will use flow through money still available from its raise in June 2012. The Feasibility Study will incorporate the drill results from this drilling campaign.
1,000 Hour Test
With respect to Nemaska's proprietary lithium hydroxide/lithium carbonate processing plant, the company will initiate a 1,000 hour test with an equipment supplier as well as a membrane comparison test with an independent group. These programs are designed to increase the level of accuracy of the capital expenditures and operating expenditures for the processing plant to be included in the Feasibility Study. The program will provide operating data as well as enable the Company to select a membrane material for its electrolysis cells - currently several membranes are being evaluated for optimal cost and performance characteristics. In addition, the company intends to use this equipment to produce samples of lithium hydroxide for customer evaluation. The lithium hydroxide samples will be produced from spodumene concentrate from the Whabouchi project. Nemaska will carefully select potential customers to receive the first samples with a view to securing off-take agreements for the production output from the commercial processing facility. Nemaska is currently in discussion with several potential customers.
Phase 1 Plant
The Company continues to evaluate financing options for the Phase 1 processing plant previously announced. Commissioning of the Phase 1 plant would provide an opportunity to work through normal startup issues on smaller scale in advance of commissioning the larger processing facility.
Lithium Market Demand
The market for lithium remains strong as demand from battery applications in technology and transportation continues to outpace all other lithium applications. Independent researcher SignumBox has estimated that total lithium consumption for 2013 will reach around 145,000 - 150,000 tonnes, a growth of around 5% to 6% compared with 2012. This growth will be driven by the performance of the battery industry that is expected to grow around 16% in 2013. The rest of the lithium applications are expected to grow at an annual rate of 1% to 2%. The same group predicts that lithium demand will grow at a realistic annual compounded growth rate of 9.1% from 2013 to 2020 with lithium hydroxide projected to grow at 12.1% in the same period and lithium carbonate at 9.3%.
Feasibility Study
The Company now targets Q1 2014 to release the Feasibility Study on the Whabouchi mine and concentrator and the Valleyfield lithium hydroxide and carbonate processing plant.
Source: http://www.nemaskalithium.com/