Standard Lithium Ltd. (“Standard Lithium” or the
“Company”) (TSXV: SLI) (NYSE American: SLI) (FRA: S5L), an
innovative technology and lithium project development company,
today offered an update on several project and other related
developments.
SiFT Lithium Carbonate PlantThe
‘SiFT’ lithium carbonate plant was installed at the site in Q3 2021
(see September 1st news release) and has been successfully
commissioned and used to produce battery quality lithium carbonate
at the plant. The lithium carbonate was produced at the SiFT Plant
in a single crystallization stage (contrasting with multiple stages
in a typical process). The crystals were washed twice using hot
deionized water to attain battery-quality (>99.83% purity)
lithium carbonate. This is the first of its kind demonstration of a
continuous Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) plant being operated at
scale, producing a concentrated lithium chloride intermediate
product and directly converting to battery quality lithium
carbonate in a single crystallization step. Completion of this
phase of work is another important milestone for the Company and
its technology-driven approach to development.
The current iteration of the Company’s
proprietary LiSTR DLE demonstration plant in El Dorado, Arkansas
also uses a novel osmotically assisted High Pressure Reverse
Osmosis (HPRO) unit to concentrate the LiCl solution prior to
carbonation. This HPRO unit was successfully integrated into the
plant and has been operating according to design criteria since
September 2021 and consistently producing LiCl solutions containing
approximately 7,000 mg/L lithium.
First Commercial Plant Design and
PlanningStandard Lithium has expanded its internal team
and retained additional consulting services to advance all
necessary project definition work for the Company’s first
commercial lithium plant, intended to be constructed at Lanxess’s
South Facility. The Company has completed initial site selection
work within the available property envelope to determine a suitable
location(s), and initial environmental and permitting screening has
been completed with no significant issues noted. The Company has
also retained one of North America’s largest and most respected
engineering and construction organizations to complete a
Preliminary Front End Engineering and Design (Pre-FEED) study. The
Pre-FEED was commenced in Q4 2021 and is scheduled to be completed
in Q2 2022. The study will be used to develop the initial design
for the first commercial plant, as well as to provide all
supporting engineering and costing data.
The findings from the Pre-FEED will be reviewed
by the expanded Standard Lithium team and will be directly
integrated into and form the basis for the next substantial phase
of design work, the FEED study, which is intended to commence in Q2
2022. The FEED study will significantly advance the level of
engineering design, constructability and associated costing of the
first commercial project, and its main findings will be publicly
reported as a NI 43-101 Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS). It is
also expected that the FEED study will be converted into a lump-sum
turnkey (LSTK) estimate that can be used for any future project
financing activities that may be required. The Company will provide
additional updates once the FEED study is awarded.
Commercial Supply of Lithium-Selective
SorbentThe Company’s LiSTR DLE process uses a bespoke,
custom-formulated lithium-selective sorbent based on a titanate
architecture. The sorbent that has been successfully running in the
demonstration plant for the past 20 months was manufactured outside
of North America and represents the first generation of the
material.
Since Q1 2021, Standard Lithium has been working
with one of the world’s largest industrial material suppliers, with
a specialization in ceramics and catalyst compounds, to optimize
the performance of the sorbent, and to develop a scalable
commercial manufacturing process in North America. This work has
been successfully completed at various R&D facilities in North
America and Europe and substantial improvements in the performance
of the sorbent have been achieved. The next generation of the
material will be produced using a full-scale commercial production
process and is expected to arrive at the El Dorado, Arkansas
Demonstration Plant during Q2 2022.
Dr. Andy Robinson, President and COO of Standard
Lithium commented, “The Standard Lithium team has been extremely
busy over the last quarter. We’ve continued to integrate processes
into our El Dorado Demonstration plant, so that we now have the
only continuous, 24/7 start-to-finish brine-to-carbonate plant in
North America. Owing to the keystone investment into the Company by
Koch Strategic Platforms in Q4 last year, we’ve been able to grow
our team and commission intensive studies that start us on the real
path towards commercialization. We and our partners have
significantly increased our knowledge of the scale-up process and
have a better understanding of what the first commercial plant will
look like. We have a lot of exciting work to complete in 2022 and
we look forward to providing updates as we continue to grow our
team, bring on new project execution partners and move Standard
Lithium on its path of delivering the first new commercial lithium
project in the United States for several decades.”
Quality
AssuranceDr. Ron Molnar, Professional Metallurgical
Engineer (Ontario P.E.# 100111288), is a qualified person as
defined by NI 43-101, is independent of the Company, and has
reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information that
forms the basis for this news release.
About Standard Lithium
Ltd.Standard Lithium is an innovative technology and
lithium development company. The Company’s flagship project is
located in southern Arkansas, where it is engaged in the testing
and proving of the commercial viability of lithium extraction from
over 150,000 acres of permitted brine operations. The Company
operates its first-of-a-kind industrial-scale direct lithium
extraction demonstration plant at Lanxess’s south plant facility in
southern Arkansas. The demonstration plant utilizes the Company’s
proprietary LiSTR technology to selectively extract lithium from
Lanxess’s tail brine. The demonstration plant is being used for
proof-of-concept and commercial feasibility studies. The scalable,
environmentally friendly process eliminates the use of evaporation
ponds, reduces processing time from months to hours and greatly
increases the effective recovery of lithium. The Company is also
pursuing the resource development of over 30,000 acres of separate
brine leases located in southwest Arkansas, referred to as the
South West Arkansas Lithium Project, and approximately 45,000 acres
of mineral leases located in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino
County, California.
Standard Lithium is jointly listed on the TSX
Venture Exchange and the NYSE American under the trading symbol
“SLI”; and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol “S5L”.
Please visit the Company’s website
at https://www.standardlithium.com.
On behalf of the Board of Standard Lithium Ltd.Robert Mintak,
CEO & Director
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release. This news release may contain certain
“Forward-Looking Statements” within the meaning of the United
States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and
applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news
release, the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”,
“target, “plan”, “forecast”, “may”, “schedule” and other similar
words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or
information. These forward-looking statements or information may
relate to future prices of commodities, accuracy of mineral or
resource exploration activity, reserves or resources, regulatory or
government requirements or approvals, the reliability of third
party information, continued access to mineral properties or
infrastructure, fluctuations in the market for lithium and its
derivatives, changes in exploration costs and government regulation
in Canada and the United States, and other factors or information.
Such statements represent the Company’s current views with respect
to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of
assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the
Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic,
competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and
uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause
results, performance or achievements to be materially different
from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The
Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to
update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect
changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other
events affections such statements and information other than as
required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
For further information contact:
LHA Investor Relations
David Barnard
+1 415-433-3777
standardlithium@lhai.com
info@standardlithium.com
Twitter: @standardlithium
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/standard-lithium/
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