RE:EIN news deskInteresting quotes from the following:
https://investingnews.com/company-profiles/critical-elements-lithium-tantalum-quebec/
- “We are the only lithium company with an offtake commitment from a large partner for 100 percent of production,” stated Jean-Sbastien Lavalle, president and CEO of Critical Elements. “Our high-purity, low-contaminant spodumene concentrate will allow us to supply both the battery market and the glass & ceramics market. Our tantalum resource lends further diversification to the markets we can serve.”
- Critical Elements is focused on developing supply for these critical markets at its Rose lithium-tantalum project. The unique geological properties of this deposit give it the potential to supply multiple markets, including battery grade, ceramic and glass and tantalum.
- Excellent infrastructure is in place locally and regionally, including 100-ton road access (100 meters from site), an airport (35 kilometers), the Hydro-Quebec camp (30 kilometers) and a power line directly on the project property.
- The Rose lithium-tantalum project is located in the Quebec Plan Nord designated area, where the government is fast-tracking the construction of new infrastructure, accelerating permitting and assisting with project financing.
- Excellent recoveries and battery-grade purity
Intensive metallurgical testing and flow sheet optimization work has shown that the Rose lithium-tantalum project demonstrates a significant advantage over other known lithium deposits based on its ability to produce premium-purity lithium carbonate at a low cost.
- Tantalum by-product more economical than potash
Most of the world’s supply of lithium comes from deposits with a significant potash co-product. In fact, the battery-grade lithium supply shortfall anticipated by 2016 is due in part to low potash prices (down 68 percent) making such projects uneconomical.
The Rose deposit, however, possesses a unique combination of tantalum and lithium mineralization. The tantalum found in the Rose deposit gives the project additional by-product diversification and makes it one of the few economic, conflict-free, industrial-scale tantalum sources in the world.
The most recently reported metallurgical results for tantalum at the Rose deposit show tantalite magnetic recoveries as high as 84 percent with an average of 77.6 percent, up significantly from the 50 percent recoveries reported in the 2011 PEA. Recent tantalum mine closures in Canada, Mozambique and Australia are creating a major shortage of supply from which Critical Elements expects to benefit.
- The feasibility study on the Rose lithium-tantalum project is currently underway. Critical Elements expects to complete the feasibility study by mid-2016 with permitting completed by the end of 2016.