23 September 2024
September 23, 2024 – Vancouver, B.C., Li-FT Power Ltd. (“LIFT” or the “Company”) (TSXV: LIFT) (OTCQX: LIFFF) (Frankfurt: WS0) is pleased to report results from the metallurgical sampling program completed in 2023 and 2024 across eight spodumene deposits within the Yellowknife Lithium Project, Northwest Territories, Canada. Metallurgical test work comprised of heavy liquid separation (HLS) testing, dense media separation (DMS) testing, and batch flotation testing was executed by SGS Canada Inc. (“SGS”) in Lakefield, Ontario. Testing was completed on samples from the Big East (BigE), Big West (BigW), Nite, Ki, Echo, Fi Main (FiM), Fi Southwest (FiSW), and Hi pegmatites.
Table 1- Summary of Results
|
Sample |
Flowsheet |
Wt. |
Assays (%) |
Recovery (%) |
|||
|
(%) |
Li |
Li2O |
Fe2O3 |
Li |
Fe2O3 |
||
|
BigE |
Two-stage DMS + Flotation |
21.1 |
2.7 |
5.79 |
0.76 |
87.4 |
29.3 |
|
BigW |
11.1 |
2.67 |
5.75 |
0.76 |
81.4 |
16.0 |
|
|
Nite |
22.4 |
2.69 |
5.78 |
0.74 |
89.3 |
28.7 |
|
|
Ki |
18.4 |
2.8 |
6.02 |
0.58 |
84.8 |
22.8 |
|
|
Echo |
15.7 |
2.87 |
6.17 |
0.85 |
87.1 |
13.8 |
|
|
FiM |
Single-stage DMS + Flotation |
15.8 |
2.6 |
5.59 |
0.49 |
60.8 |
14.7 |
|
FiSW |
17.9 |
2.68 |
5.76 |
0.45 |
72.3 |
14.5 |
|
|
Hi |
16.7 |
2.69 |
5.77 |
0.46 |
70.1 |
14.6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
5.83 |
|
79.1 |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
Average Spodumene Concentrate Grade (Li2O %) |
5.83 |
|
|
|
|||
|
Average Global Lithium Recovery (%) |
79.1 |
|
|
|
|||
Francis MacDonald, CEO of LIFT comments, “We are very pleased to report that the comprehensive metallurgical testing studies in preparation for our upcoming Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) yielded positive results. Studies notably included pilot-scale DMS testing that indicated that this lower-cost separation method is suitable for the spodumene-enriched pegmatite dikes that are targeted for the more accessible early mining sites that we envision could comprise lithium production in the district for a generation or more. As such the results of these important studies underpin the high value potential for our Yellowknife lithium project.
Details of metallurgical program
Lithium chemical analysis of the metallurgical samples was performed by sodium peroxide fusion digestion followed by inductively coupled plasma optical spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Whole rock analysis (WRA) was performed by borate fusion and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF). Elemental compositions of the pegmatite samples are presented in Table 2. Pegmatite sample grades ranged from 0.86% to 1.46% Li2O and from 0.24% to 0.48% Fe2O3.