お知らせ • Oct 20
Lithium Ionic Corp. Reports Results of Preliminary Economic Assessment and Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for its Wholly Owned Bandeira Project Located in Minas Gerais, Brazil
Lithium Ionic Corp. reported the results of the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) and the updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its wholly owned Bandeira project located in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The PEA was completed by independent Brazilian consultancy, GE21 Consultoria Mineral Ltda, with support of SNC Lavalin, and indicates that Bandeira has the potential to be a viable and highly economic mining project and a substantial and long-life producer of low-cost spodumene concentrate. Bandeira PEA - Production & Economic Highlights($USD unless otherwise stated): Post-tax Net Present Value (NPV) 8% of $1.6 billion (approximately CAD 2.2 billion); Post-tax Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 121%; Underground mine scenario processing 1.3Mtpa of ore over a 20-year mine life; After-tax payback of 14 months; Avg. LOM annual production of 217,700t of high-quality spodumene concentrate at 5.5% Li2O (SC5.5) equivalent (187,230 tpa SC5.5, in addition to 56,860 tpa of spodumene tails concentrate at 3% Li2O, or SC3); Total capital expenditure (CAPEX) of $233 million (including a 25% contingency); Pre-tax annual average free cash flow of $243 million; and All-in LOM operating costs (OPEX) of $349/t of spodumene concentrate SC5.5. Bandeira Updated MRE Highlights: Measured & Indicated: 13.72Mt at 1.40% Li20 (474,892t LCE) representing a 196% increase in tonnes compared to the June 2023 MRE for Bandeira of 4.63Mt at 1.35% Li20 (154,198t LCE); Inferred: 15.79Mt at 1.34% Li20 (523,118t LCE). Bandeira Project PEA Overview: The Bandeira Project covers 175 hectares within Lithium Ionic’s large land package of 14,182 hectares and is located between the towns of Araçuaí and Itinga within Brazil’s Lithium Valley - a hard rock lithium district that is quickly emerging as an important global lithium producer. Mining: The Bandeira project engineering design contemplates dual underground mining operations. The primary orebodies, accounting for approximately 90% of the deposit, are proposed to be extracted using a bottom-up sublevel stoping method (Bandeira Sublevel Mine, BSL mine). Simultaneously, the secondary southeast orebody, comprising approximately 1.5 million tonnes, is expected to be mined using room-and-pillar technique (Bandeira Room and Pillar, BRP mine). The BSL mine has been planned with two declines, extending along a NE/SW mineralized trend spanning 1.0 km. It is divided into 12 panels, each measuring 55 meters, and consists of two sublevels. The BRP mine features a single panel with approximate dimensions of 380 meters in length, 330 meters in width, and 10 meters in height. Access to the ore chamber will be provided through five crosscuts originating from the southern decline. Once fully operational, the BSL and BRP mines are expected to achieve a combined production of approximately 1.3 million tonnes per annum. Mineral Processing: The mineral processing flowsheet is structured around a two-stage crushing circuit (comprising a Jaw crusher and Gyratory Cone crusher), ore size classification, the implementation of an ore sorter for coarse and medium materials, and the utilization of DMS (Dense Media Separation) for coarse and medium materials. Additionally, fines are subjected to gravity concentration with spirals. The underground mine is anticipated to yield ore with an average Li2O grade of 1.23% over the Life of Mine (LOM), accounting for dilution at 16.8%. The ore sorting process will effectively purify the ore by removing undesirable dilution and non-lithium-bearing minerals like albite, feldspar, and quartz. This enrichment process will improve the lithium oxide grade to approximately 1.50%, ensuring a higher feed for the DMS I and II units. Based on the preliminary testwork program, Li2O recovery is projected to reach 67%, with an additional 10.7% achieved through gravity concentration in the fines fraction. Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for Bandeira: The PEA is based on an updated MRE for the Bandeira project. The Bandeira MRE contains Measured and Indicated (M&I) resources of 13.72Mt grading 1.40% Li2O, containing 474,892 tonnes of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE), the benchmark equivalent raw material used in the lithium industry, in addition to Inferred resources of 15.79Mt grading 1.34% Li2O, or 523,118 tonnes of LCE. The updated MRE for Bandeira is based on 204 diamond drill holes conducted on the Bandeira property until August 30, 2023. This compares to drill data from 120 holes in the previous MRE for Bandeira announced on June 27, 2023. This additional drilling significantly expanded the MRE, with the tonnes in the Indicated category increasing by 196% compared to the previous estimate. The Preliminary Economic Assessment is considered preliminary in nature and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative, geologically, to have the economic considerations applied that would enable classification as Mineral Reserves. There is no certainty that the conclusions within the PEA will be realized. The PEA is based on the material assumptions outlined in this document. These include assumptions about the availability of funding. While the Company considers all of the material assumptions to be based on reasonable grounds, there is no certainty that they will prove to be correct or that the range of outcomes indicated by the PEA can be achieved. No mineral reserves have been estimated for the Project. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.