European Metals Holdings Ltd (LON:EMH) has today announced the commencement of the beneficiation process and magnetic separation of a 15 tonne bulk sample which represents the ore that will be mined in the first stages of project development.
The beneficiation and magnetic separation of a lithium rich concentrate will provide pilot plant feed for planned downstream processing through the roast, leach, purification and final product precipitation flowsheet that has been developed. It is intended to ultimately produce up to 200 kg of battery grade lithium carbonate from this material for marketing and user acceptance purposes.
The processing of the ore sample will also provide approximately 12 tonnes of non-magnetic material that will be used to confirm the flowsheet for the recovery of tin and tungsten values which are unique and important by-products from the Cinovec ore body.
The program of work is being carried out by UVR-FIA GmbH in Freiberg who are specialists in beneficiation and magnetic separation.
European Metals Holdings Ltd MD Keith Coughlan commented, “The commencement of the processing of the bulk sample to provide concentrate feed for the lithium carbonate pilot plant is a significant step for European Metals. The pilot plant operation is not only a significant activity of the feasibility study, it also allows the production of lithium carbonate for end-user trials and associated off-take arrangements.
Our on-going roast optimisation testwork is almost complete and will form the basis of the upcoming lock-cycle pilot testwork. The optimisation work continues to improve recoveries and reduce input costs and I look forward to updating the market in the near term on these developments and their potential positive impacts on the Cinovec Project.”
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON CINOVEC
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Cinovec Lithium/Tin Project
European Metals, through its wholly owned Subsidiary, Geomet s.r.o., controls the mineral exploration licenses awarded by the Czech State over the Cinovec Lithium/Tin Project. Cinovec hosts a globally significant hard rock lithium deposit with a total Indicated Mineral Resource of 348Mt @ 0.45% Li2O and 0.04% Sn and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 309Mt @ 0.39% Li2O and 0.04% Sn containing a combined 7.0 million tonnes Lithium Carbonate Equivalent and 263kt of tin. An initial Probable Ore Reserve of 34.5Mt @ 0.65% Li2O and 0.09% Sn has been declared to cover the first 20 years mining at an output of 20,800tpa of lithium carbonate.
This makes Cinovec the largest lithium deposit in Europe, the fourth largest non-brine deposit in the world and a globally significant tin resource.
The deposit has previously had over 400,000 tonnes of ore mined as a trial sub-level open stope underground mining operation.
EMH has completed a Preliminary Feasibility Study, conducted by specialist independent consultants, which indicated a return post tax NPV of USD540m and an IRR of 21%. It confirmed the deposit is amenable to bulk underground mining. Metallurgical test work has produced both battery grade lithium carbonate and high-grade tin concentrate at excellent recoveries. Cinovec is centrally located for European end-users and is well serviced by infrastructure, with a sealed road adjacent to the deposit, rail lines located 5 km north and 8 km south of the deposit and an active 22 kV transmission line running to the historic mine. As the deposit lies in an active mining region, it has strong community support.
The economic viability of Cinovec has been enhanced by the recent strong increase in demand for lithium globally, and within Europe specifically.
