VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 25, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rock Tech Lithium Inc. (the "Company" or “Rock Tech”) (TSX-V: RCK; Frankfurt: RJIB) is pleased to announce the results from an initial leach test of ore from the Company’s 100%-owned Georgia Lake lithium project in Ontario, Canada.
The results of analyses on samples from the Georgia Lake lithium project show that disulphide could not be found within the rock samples, the detection limit being 0.01% of the total mass. The results of the laboratory analyses support the review of geological materials which did not result in any apparent indication of sulphidic minerals potentially producing acid when being oxidized and the rock analyses performed to date did not include sulphur.
In summary, the laboratory results and the geological characterization confirmed that the materials are essentially free of sulphidic materials and do not indicate any Acid Rock Drainage (“ARD”) risk.
“Of particular attention in mining projects are potential impacts on surface waters and groundwater from ore, waste rock and tailings during and after the life of a mine,” said Dirk Harbecke, Rock Tech’s chairman. “While additional testing will be conducted in the future, we can reasonably conclude from these initial tests that waste rock materials and ore handled at Georgia Lake will not release leachates which could harm the chemical quality of receiving waters.”
The test results suggest that all mine waste and tailings can be classified as inert waste. Accordingly, the Company does not anticipate any adverse environmental impacts from placing waste rock on designated outside dumps or as backfill into open pits. The Company is contemplating the co-disposal of tailings and waste rock underground or as backfill, thus reducing the project footprint by eliminating the need for a separate tailings facility.
The Company cautions that while the results have not indicated any potential for ARD, the results do not provide conclusive evidence that there is no ARD risk and additional testing needs to be performed on representative samples of waste rock, ore and tailings.
All scientific and technical information in this news release concerning the Georgia Lake lithium property was reviewed and approved by Karl-Stephan Peters, EurGeol 787, a qualified person (QP) as defined under National Instrument 43-101.
About the Georgia Lake Lithium Project
The Georgia Lake project is a lithium-rich pegmatite vein deposit with measured and indicated resources of 6.57 million tonnes grading 1.01% Li2O in addition to inferred resources of 6.72 million tonnes grading 1.16% Li2O. The first PEA for the project, focused exclusively on the main resource area hosting less than 80% of total defined resources, was published in October 2018. Highlights from the PEA included an NPV of $312 million and an IRR of 62.2%.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
"Martin Stephan"
Martin Stephan
Director, Chief Executive Officer
For further information, please contact:
Brad Barnett
Chief Financial Officer
Rock Tech Lithium Inc.
777 Hornby Street, Suite 600
Vancouver, B.C., V6Z 1S4
Telephone: (778) 358-5200
Facsimile: (604) 670-0033
Email: bbarnett@rocktechlithium.com
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Statements included in this announcement, including statements concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, "forward‐looking statements". Forward‐looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The Company cautions readers that forward‐looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Company's future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward‐looking statements.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/836525b5-002f-4fc3-b681-861788de4511