This is what keeps me here. Rick better be right! The results of NORAM's test program, presented below, are great. Starting with a feed of 380 parts per million (ppm), using Cypress' flowsheet, NORAM was able to strip out the impurities to low levels of magnesium, calcium, iron and aluminium and end up with a solution of 360 ppm lithium. Says Willoughby, "we were quite pleased with these results, which represent the first of three stages in lithium recovery that NORAM tested. This stage confirmed we can easily and cheaply produce a clean lithium solution. The next two stages, which NORMAM has completed, will show how the lithium concentrates as water and sodium are removed.
Cypress is waiting on the final report from NORAM, but Willoughby is confident in the process based on the results so far. "Based on the solution grades we see after purification, the steps to reaching battery-grade product are predictable and industrially proven. The work throughout the PFS addressed the risk areas identified in the PEA and successfully found solutions to problems we encountered along the way."
This news does not take all the risk out of CYP going into production, but, says Willoughby, with the PFS in hand, the Company will be ready to take the next steps which will include a pilot plant and permitting. "With more than $1 million in the treasury, Cypress has the resources to complete the PFS while taking steps to weather the present Covid-19 crisis." The PFS is the foundation for further work, which Willoughby acknowledges opens it up to partnership agreements, financing deals, or even a buyout. "Obviously, we will need financial support to move forward past the PFS. We are optimistic that the PFS shows Cypress' vision for the future."