Lake Resources [ASX:LKE] shares are up almost 7% after the company confirmed that Lilac Resources has assembled and sent their modular demonstration plant to the Kachi project in Argentina.
Lake Resources is an ASX-listed lithium developer. Their flagship project is the Kachi project, located in the lithium triangle.
Back in September last year, Lake Resources partnered with California-based Lilac Solutions to develop Kachi together.
Lilac, which is backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, agreed to provide the technology expertise and an on-site demonstration plant in exchange of a maximum 25% stake.
‘Truly disruptive’ technology
The demo plant, which has been sent from Oakland, California, in five 40-feet shipping containers, has been designed and built by the team at Lilac Solutions.
Its modular design makes a ‘plug and play’ approach possible once they connect brine feed, power, and reagents.
The demo plant will work for around 3–4 months to produce lithium chloride (eluate), which equals 2.5 tonnes of lithium carbonate. This will be then turned into high-purity battery-quality lithium carbonate.
According to Lilac, their production process not only costs less but it also offers recovery rates of 80–90% when compared to conventional technology.
As Lilac’s Chief Executive Officer David Snydacker explained:
‘Our technology is truly disruptive; we’ve taken ion exchange, a non-mining technology solution that is ubiquitous in the water treatment industry, and with cutting-edge innovations have created a unique technology for lithium extraction which we strongly believe will reduce operating costs and boost lithium recovery for production of lithium chemicals from the Kachi brines.
‘Our process is modular, produces high purity lithium and can be ramped up quickly from pilot to commercial stages — our equity stake ensures a rapid commercialization of the Lilac technology at what is a globally significant lithium resource.’
What happens next?
Lilac Solutions is still generating the data they need for the Definitive Feasibility Study at their facility in California and are conducting lithium carbonation testwork at Hazen Research in Colorado.
Lake Resources shares are up 6.67% at time of writing, trading at $1.04.
The renewable energy transition will need plenty of resources, like lithium.
If you are interested in investing in lithium, check out our free guide ‘How to Invest in ASX Lithium Stocks Ahead of the Clean Energy Revolution’. For more information, click here.
Best,
Selva Freigedo,
For Money Morning
