Neo Lithium has successfully completed and tested a lithium carbonate pilot plant to Catamarca, Argentina.
Neo Lithium tested the plant, built by the Chilean University of Concepción, in Chile, using artificial brine and concentrated about 4% lithium brine in its pilot evaporation ponds, in order to start production of lithium carbonate.
Director and chief operating officer of Neo Lithium, Gabriel Pindar, said: “We hope the proposed feasibility study will support that the plant can produce battery grade lithium at one of the most competitive cash costs of the market.”
The current annual capacity of the pilot evaporation ponds is more than 500 tonnes of approximate 4% lithium brine per annum.
In addition, Neo Lithium said it had started its drilling campaign with a projected 300 metre well in the “high grade” northern zone of its 3Q Project in Catamarca, the largest lithium producing area in Argentina.
The 3Q project spans around 35,000 hectares, with a measured and indicated resource estimate of 4,005,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate, at an average lithium grade of 614mg/litre.
