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Arizona Lithium Limited (ASX: AZL, AZLOA, OTC: AZLAF) (“Arizona Lithium”, “AZL” or “the Company”), a company focused on the sustainable development of two large lithium development projects in North America, the Big Sandy Lithium Project (“Big Sandy”) and the Prairie Lithium Project (“Prairie”), is pleased to announce that it has increased the resource size, and upgraded a significant portion of the resource at its Prairie Lithium brine project in Saskatchewan, Canada.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Highest grade Indicated lithium brine resource in Canada, with the majority of the Indicated resource at 127 mg/L Li.
- Resource increased to 5.7 million tonnes (“mt”) of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (“LCE”) (4 mt Indicated and 1.7 mt Inferred), representing a 39% increase in size.
- Total resource represents approximately 8 years of current worldwide market for LCE1.
- 4 mt of LCE upgraded from Inferred to Indicated.
- Large Indicated resource enables the Company to complete a Pre-Feasibility Study (“PFS”) by the end of 2023.
- Rare lithium brine resource that does not require the depleted brine to be injected back into the producing lithium aquifer. This extends the life of the well network infrastructure and ensures resource stability overtime.
- No Hydrogen Sulphide (“H2S”) or oil encountered.
- Pilot Direct Lithium Extraction (“DLE”) test plant to commence operations in November 2023.
- Investor Webinar on Tuesday, 15 August at 10:00 am AEST / 8:00 am AWST. Managing Director, Paul Lloyd, and Chief Technical Officer, Brett Rabe, will provide a Company update.
The total resource has been increased from 4.1 mt of LCE2 to 5.7 mt of LCE, representing a 39% increase in resource size, with a resource upgrade also successfully completed. 4.0 mt of LCE has been upgraded to Indicated and 1.7 mt of LCE remains Inferred. This marks the first known lithium brine resource to be upgraded to Indicated in Saskatchewan and represents the highest-grade Indicated lithium brine resource in Canada. The majority of the targeted resource resides in the Middle Wymark Unit with a representative concentration of 127 mg/L Li (Figure 3).
The geology of the Prairie Lithium project in Southeast Saskatchewan enables it to be one of the only DLE brine projects that does not require the depleted lithium brine to be re-injected into the producing aquifer after the lithium has been extracted from the brine. This is due to Prairie currently having enough natural pressure, permeability, and lateral continuity to sustain the production rates required for commercial production of brine. Furthermore, the geology of the Williston Basin in Southeast Saskatchewan has world class fluid storage capabilities, providing the Company the option to explore multiple potential disposal formations without the risk of diluting the resource in place.
The operations of producing brine from one formation and disposing it in another formation is an extremely common occurrence in southeast Saskatchewan. From January - April 2023, the oil and gas industry in Saskatchewan produced and disposed of an average of 149,654,188 bbl.3 (23,792,399 m3) of brine per month from various formations across Saskatchewan, well exceeding the anticipated brine volumes that will be required for a commercial lithium brine operation.
Arizona Lithium Managing Director, Paul Lloyd, commented: “Immediately after acquiring the Prairie Lithium Project, we put our plans in motion to fast track the development of the Resource. Completing the first Indicated Resource upgrade in a timely and efficient manner, highlights the technical capability of the team and the Company’s commitment to production of Lithium, from the Prairie project. The combination of the Resource upgrade and the upcoming DLE pilot plant operation in November 2023, set the stage for a very exciting second half of the year for the Company. With all of this, the PFS on the Prairie project will be completed by the end of this year.”
Investor Webinar
The Company would like to remind shareholders and investors of the AZL Investor Webinar which will be held on Tuesday, 15 August at 10:00 am AEST / 8:00 am AWST. Managing Director, Paul Lloyd, and Chief Technical Officer, Brett Rabe, will provide a Company update.
To register your interest for the webinar, please click through to the link below.
https://janemorganmanagement-au.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gQQrtbtzRFqoHXys4pvfNA
After registering your interest, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the webinar. Participants will be able to submit questions via the Panel throughout the presentation, however, given we are expecting a large number of attendees we encourage shareholders to send through questions via email beforehand to jm@janemorganmanagement.com.au
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Arizona Lithium, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.