VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Lithium Corp. (TSXV: LI) (OTCQB: LIACF) (Frankfurt: 5LA1) (“American Lithium” or the “Company”) a leading lithium exploration and development operator is pleased to report highly encouraging results from testing aimed at simplifying the process for extracting lithium from the sedimentary claystone deposits of the Company's wholly owned TLC lithium claystone discovery near Tonopah, Nevada.
Testing designed by SND Consulting of Tucson, Arizona, and conducted by McClelland Laboratories of Sparks, Nevada, demonstrates that using an acid agglomeration and cure process for the extraction of lithium resulted in an average 87% lithium extraction with only a brief agitation period and without high solution temperature requirements. Further to American Lithium's news release of May 5, 2020, wherein early testing results of several extraction methods were outlined, the Company is pleased to report that continued work indicates great success using acid agglomeration and cure technique.
TLC lithium claystone is consistently highly leachable throughout the project however this latest testing indicates the extraction process can potentially be completed without the use of any heat and with a very brief agitation time. In addition, the acid consumption was lower than required for an agitation leach. There was no statistical difference in lithium extractions between acid dose levels of 500 or 600 kg/tonne of ore, suggesting that evaluation of lower acid dose is required to define the lower limit.
Michael Kobler, CEO of American Lithium, states "Our excitement with TLC continues to build as the project gets further de-risked at every stage. American Lithium has demonstrated that by using relatively large amounts of acid, all the lithium in the TLC resource is highly leachable using simple processes. Now that the upper bound has been established, we are optimizing to determine the lower bound of acid consumption. We are excited about the acid agglomeration and curing process due to the potential for lower acid consumption and the fact that heating and heavy agitation is not required."
“Despite potentially using a little more acid, the cost of acid is offset by the higher lithium recovery and overall simplicity of the process. The real cost of acid is in the cost of neutralization of that acid, and TLC has the huge advantage of locally available, low cost neutralization agents for the neutralization of the leachate and the precipitation of deleterious elements. This makes us less sensitive to the cost of acid, although we still strive to economically minimize its use. As a result, we are not concerned about leaching co-minerals due to our cost effective and simple processes to remove them.”
Following these successes, the Company has engaged McClelland Labs to perform the next series of testing including evaluation of: solutions neutralization, volume reduction, magnesium precipitation, calcium precipitation and finally lithium precipitation. The end result of this series is to produce a battery grade lithium product at a bench scale. In addition, McClelland Labs is being engaged to begin acid consumption optimization testing in anticipation of significant reductions of acid requirements.
Acid Cure Testing
Sulfuric acid cure tests were conducted on composite samples of assay pulp material from five different drill holes on the TLC project (composite grades: 1,060 to 1,270 ppm Li). For each of these tests, a 0.5 kg sample was agglomerated with water and concentrated sulfuric acid. The agglomerates were cured for 24 hours before being slurried in water (and agitated for approximately 5 minutes), filtered, and washed to recover dissolved lithium. Curing and washing were both done at ambient temperature. Lithium extractions of 80.9% to 88.5% were achieved by following these procedures, with an agglomeration sulfuric acid addition of 500 kg/tonne.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e222ce51-0759-465f-b672-d989148c518a
Please watch our corporate video at https://www.americanlithiumcorp.com/our-company/ and review our informative short project update videos and related background information at https://www.americanlithiumcorp.com/projects/tlc-nevada/.
About the TLC Discovery
The TLC sedimentary lithium discovery is an exploration and development project located 12 kilometres northwest of Tonopah, Nev., and easily accessible by paved highway. Work to date has identified a 5.3 million tonne measured and indicated lithium carbonate equivalent resource, with an additional 1.7 million tonnes inferred, placing the company’s resource amongst a handful of potential lithium deposits in Western North America capable of development. TLC is near-surface, relatively flat-lying and a free digging lithium sedimentary deposit that the company expects advance through an early stage economic study in 2020. Just south of the Crescent Dunes solar energy plant, the project is favourably located for future production given the immediate access to some of the cheapest electricity in Nevada.
About American Lithium Corp.
American Lithium is actively engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of lithium deposits within mining-friendly jurisdictions throughout the Americas. The company is currently exploring and developing the TLC project located in the highly prospective Esmeralda lithium district in Nevada. TLC is close to infrastructure, 3.5 hours south of the Tesla Gigafactory, and in the same basinal environment as Albemarle's Silver Peak lithium mine, and several advancing deposits and resources, including Ioneer Ltd.'s (formerly Global Geoscience) Rhyolite Ridge and Cypress Development Corp.'s Clayton Valley project.
The technical information within this news release has been reviewed and approved by Bruce Kienlen, P.Geo., a consultant to the Company and a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101. The metallurgical testing information reported herein was reviewed by Jared Olson, Metallurgist and VP Operations McClelland Labs, a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.
For more information, please contact the Company at info@americanlithiumcorp.com or visit our website at www.americanlithiumcorp.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
On behalf of the Board,
American Lithium Corp.
Michael Kobler, Chief Executive Officer
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-looking statements
Statements in this release that are forward-looking information are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here. Information provided in this release is necessarily summarized and may not contain all available material information. All such forward-looking information and statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by American Lithium management in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. These statements, however, are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information or statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include those described under the heading “Risks Factors” in American Lithium's most recently filed MD&A. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or revise the forward-looking information contained in this news release, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements.