Vancouver-based lithium explorer and developer American Lithium Corp. (LIACF:US-OTC; LI:TSX.V; 5LA1:FSE) yesterday announced "the highest lithium extraction results to date, achieving 97.4% extraction utilizing warm sulfuric acid leach on Tonopah Lithium Claims (TLC) claystone mineralization."
The company advised that the most recent testing completed in Lima, Peru by TECMMINE showed that by using a warm sulfuric acid leach lithium extraction process it achieved a 97.4% lithium extraction rate, which American Lithium noted is the highest results ever obtained from any recovery process.
The firm stated that it will further study possible refinements to the sulfuric acid process route by varying several key factors to optimize output including varying acid concentration, grind/particle size, leach time, solid-liquid ratios and temperature.
The company stated that it is proceeding with metallurgical work on the TLC Lithium Project and advised that it has found through its continuing efforts that claystone mineralization has been shown to be amenable to three lithium extraction methods.
The firm listed that the three process options that have demonstrated success include leaching with sulfuric acid (H2SO4) at 90°C, salt roasting followed by water leaching, and leaching with hydrochloric acid (HCl) at 90°C. The company indicated that each of these approaches overall resulted in excellent initial extraction rates of 97.4%, 82.0% and 95.1% respectively.
American Lithium stated that as it goes forward with metallurgical work it will continue to utilize all three of the above extraction methods through the lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide precipitation stages to determine the best option and create a process flowsheet for its operations at TLC.
The company explained that after it has identified the optimum process it plans to use the findings and data to prepare a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) that will maximize economic gains and minimize environmental impact.
American Lithium Corp.'s Chief Operating Officer Dr. Laurence Stefan commented, "We are pleased to have achieved the highest lithium extraction to date from TLC using simple sulfuric acid processing with almost the entire amount of lithium available extracted into sulfate solution."
"We continue to focus on optimizing the best process routes from both economic and environmental perspectives and, thereafter, to advance TLC through PEA towards future development," Dr. Stefan added.
American Lithium noted in the news release that pending regulatory acceptance, it has granted 500,000 incentive stock options to an unnamed company advisor/consultant. The company stated that the options are exercisable at $1.81 per common share and are valid for 5 years.
American Lithium is headquartered in Vancouver. B.C. and focuses on the acquiring, exploring and developing lithium projects throughout the Americas in mining-friendly jurisdictions. The firm's TLC lithium claystone project is located in Nevada's richly mineralized Esmeralda lithium district. In addition, the company is actively advancing its Falchani lithium and Macusani uranium projects in Peru. American Lithium stated that Falchani and Macusani are readily accessible to significant existing infrastructure, have each undergone PEA's and both have been determined to exhibit strong exploration potential.
American Lithium Corp. has a market cap of about $345.4 million with approximately 177.2 million shares outstanding. LIACF shares opened around 1% higher today at $1.5556 (+$0.0158, +1.03%) over yesterday's $1.5398 closing price. The stock has traded today on greater than five times average 200-day volume between $1.5367 and $1.94.65 per share and closed at $1.82 (+$0.27, +17.42%).
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