- Average of 12,175 tonnes/year of battery-grade lithium carbonate over a 23-year period;
- USD
$1.49 billion NPV using an 8% discount on a pre-tax basis; - Pre-tax IRR of 55% which represents a payout duration of 2.1 years;
- USD
$1.06 billion NPV using an 8% discount rate on an after-tax basis; - After-tax IRR of 45% which represents a payout duration of 2.4 years;
- All-in operating costs ("OPEX") of $3,319 USD/tonne LCE;
- Total capital expenditures ("CAPEX") of $571 million USD inclusive of both direct and indirect capital costs, including
$52 million USD in contingency; - Weighted average lithium concentrations of 128 mg/L from 7 target zones over the project life (range of 84 mg/L to 259 mg/L);
- Project economics used a base USD
$20,000 /tonne. 20% variation in price to eitherUSD$16,000 /tonne or USD$24,000 /tonne of LCE generates after-tax IRRs of 34% and 56%, respectively, and - PEA encompasses approximately 11,000 net hectares, representing 46% of HCL's Viewfield land holdings and only 14% of HCL's total land holdings in
Southern Saskatchewan .
The development plan employed in the PEA has been broken into three distinct units:
- Wellfield: includes all production wellbores, disposal wellbores and pipeline networks.
- Direct Lithium Extraction ("DLE"): includes infrastructure related to pre-filtration and DLE operations. Koch Technology Solutions ("KTS") was the DLE technical partner selected for the PEA.
- Concentration, Refining and Conversion ("CRC"): includes all infrastructure downstream of DLE required to refine and convert lithium chloride eluent into battery grade LCE. Saltworks Technologies ("Saltworks") was the CRC technical provider selected for the PEA.
Based on production testing and fluid analysis conducted by HCL in 2023 in the Viewfield project area, in addition to publicly available lithium testing throughout the area, it is expected to see lithium grades of 84 mg/L to 259 mg/L in the seven target members of the Duperow within the PEA lands. Over the life of the project, an average weighted concentration of 128 mg/L has been estimated.
Exploitation of the resource will occur in two production stages via multi-leg, horizontal wellbores. All project capital (minus end-of life capex) is allocated at the beginning of the project, with production estimated to commence in Q1 2027.
- Stage 1: Wymark C, D and E (Years 1-7)
- These zones are the shallowest and highest concentration (160 mg/L to 259 mg/L) zones and will be produced first through to depletion
- Average LCE output during Stage 1 is 18,850 tonnes/year with average OPEX of
$2,332 /tonne USD
- Stage 2: Wymark A, B and Saskatoon A, B (Years 8 onward)
- These zones are lower concentration (84 mg/l to 145 mg/L) and will be exploited after depletion of Wymark C, D and E
- Average LCE output during Stage 2 is 10,200 tonnes/year with average OPEX of
$4,166 /tonne USD
Note: A recovery factor of 50% of Total Lithium in Place was estimated for the PEA
A total of 36 multi-leg production wells will be drilled to exploit 7 target members of the Duperow, in addition to 30 vertical disposal wells to dispose of spent brine and process water. A network of underground pipelines will be constructed to transport the large water volumes from the wellheads to a DLE site for extraction and concentration to lithium chloride, and from there the eluent will be transported via pipelines to a CRC site for refining and conversion into battery-grade LCE. A total of five DLE sites and
Additional information related to the PEA is contained in the Company's news release dated
The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred resources that are considered too speculative to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves and there is no certainty the estimates presented in the PEA will be realized.
The Preliminary Economic Assessment was prepared by
Koch Technology Solutions: Koch Technology Solutions is a technology licensing business, a part of
Saltworks Technologies: Saltworks is a team of engineers, scientists and builders focused on the innovation, construction and delivery of full-scale systems to treat industrial wastewater and refine lithium into a battery-grade product. Mr. Ben Sparrow ("Sparrow"),
Each of Klein, Else, Ghadi and Sparrow are independent Qualified Persons in accordance with NI 43-101 and have reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release.
Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
SOURCE
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