Resource estimate technical reportanyone else have a read of the report on SEDAR? I like this part...
"A high-level estimate of the cost of processing has been made, to inform the assessment of Reasonable Prospects for Economic Extraction. This estimated cost is US$35/t treated, which includes the cost of crushing and milling, acid leach at or around 90°C, and the precipitation of lithium carbonate."
When you do the math, that comes out as around $2300 per tonne LiCO3 (!!!) And this is not technical grade, this is close to battery grade product.
Looks like the PEA will be a fairly simple process. The report suggested the following...
"It is recommended that the preliminary test work programme undertaken be expanded, to incorporate a greater geographical spread of samples, and to consider the different zones identified in the Mineral Resource estimates; • A PEA for the Falchani Project should be undertaken, to include refinements to the processing workflow, and to incorporate the mining, processing, infrastructure and environmental aspects of the Project; • Additional density measurements, for the Zones within the Mineral Resource, and for the Upper Rhyolite are required; • Given the robust geological continuity demonstrated in the drilling results to date, additional drilling in the areas identified as Inferred Mineral Resources should be undertaken to upgrade these Mineral Resources to the Indicated category. An extension of the exploration drilling to the west and north should be able to deliver additional Mineral Resources."
A lot of the infrastructure, environmental and mining data can probably be cut and pasted from the Uranium PEA, which leaves the processing optimisation. The current acid consumption is based on 150 kg/ tonne, which has the potential to be substantially reduced if the pregnant leach solution is reused and "topped up" with a smaller amount of acid to adjust pH. Once they have optimised this step and determined (potentially) how many times this solution can be reused for leaching separate batches of ore, costs could be redued even further.