Infinity Lithium continues to kick goals at its San Jose project in western Spain, with ongoing test work showing improved recoveries of lithium from the front-end of the proposed processing flowsheet. The advanced test work forms part of the company’s developing feasibility study over the project, with first-stage beneficiation showing a 10 per cent increase in lithium recovery, compared to the previous figures achieved as part of Infinity’s earlier pre-feasibility work.
The company is currently working to improve and expand upon the test and design work completed as part of its pre-feasibility study, or “PFS” over the San Jose hard-rock, lithium deposit in Spain. The deposit is the second largest lithium deposit in Europe and is rapidly emerging as a potential source of lithium carbonate and hydroxide for a horde of budding lithium-ion battery manufacturers across Europe.
San Jose is located in the Extremadura region of Spain and lies adjacent to the Portuguese border, around 280km south-west of Madrid. The project is 75 per cent owned by Infinity, with the remaining 25 per cent owned by Spanish mining contractors, Valorzia Mineria.
The company’s tenure covers an extensive mineralised terrane south of the town of Caceres and hosts a colossal near-surface, open-pit resource of 111.3 million tonnes grading 0.61 per cent lithium oxide.
Infinity has already successfully produced battery-grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide samples from the micaceous lithium ores at San Jose. The company is now working with European-based, InnoEnergy, in the development of the processing flow sheet for the operation, with the European-based tech group funding the test work program to the tune of €800,000.
Infinity Lithium Managing Director, Ryan Parkin said:
“We are pleased that the test work program has continued to progress under the EIT InnoEnergy Project Agreement, and despite the unique challenges and severe restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, we expect to see the next stages of test work advancing in line with our phase one deliverables. The work completed by Dorfner Anzaplan shows to a high degree of confidence we will at least meet, if not exceed, the key technical assumptions and outcomes of the PFS.”
InnoEnergy and Infinity are utilising tried and tested conventional processing methods to create lithium products and are now refining and augmenting these processes as part of the feasibility study.
The feasibility test work is feeding an updated PFS flowsheet and whilst work is only in its initial phase, it is already paying dividends. Work on the front-end of the circuit has shown an impressive increase in the recovery of lithium in an open floatation circuit, increasing 10 per cent to 68 per cent lithium oxide recovery to produce a rough concentrate grading 1.30 per cent lithium oxide.
Encouragingly, San Jose’s feasibility study is being developed in line with the European ‘green’ targets and will incorporate a range of innovative technologies which include utilising a clean “water leach”, in place of an acid leach, to produce its lithium products.
Infinity will continue to enhance and refine its test work on the San Jose ores it advances through feasibility with the company continuing to bolster its executive team both at a technical and corporate level. It now appears well placed to make the jump into production and take a sizeable share of the burgeoning lithium-ion battery market in Europe as it advances San Jose towards production
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