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- Factory acceptance testing underway on direct lithium extraction (DLE) unit
- Largest DLE to be built in North America
- Phase one production is fully secured under binding offtake agreement
- Hydro Lithium is also providing key upfront funding support
Prairie Lithium (ASX: PL9) has jumped more than 16% in early trading on news it is on target to commission the largest direct lithium extraction (DLE) unit installed in North America at its namesake project in Saskatchewan, Canada.
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The company has hit another important step toward installation, commissioning and first production of the phase one production facility with work being finalised on its commercial-scale DLE unit.
The DLE unit is approximately four times the scale of the single commercial scale DLE column deployed by Standard Lithium at its Arkansas project.
MD, Paul Lloyd, said the wrapping up of work on the unit is another success story for Prairie and comes on the back of the company’s signing an offtake and funding agreement with South Korea’s battery manufacturing specialist Hydro Lithium.
“Commencing factory acceptance testing of our commercial-scale DLE unit is a critical milestone for Prairie Lithium as we move closer to installation, commissioning and first production in Saskatchewan,” he said.
“The unit itself represents the largest DLE unit ever built in North America and we look forward to getting it installed in Saskatchewan in the very near future. Standard Lithium has demonstrated tremendous success with its single DLE column in Arkansas, and we are very excited to build on that success at four times the scale.
“Deploying one of the largest DLE units globally not only allows us to de-risk and rapidly scale our project, it also positions Prairie Lithium to generate revenue as we produce and sell lithium into our recently announced binding offtake with Hydro Lithium in South Korea.”
Upon successful completion of testing, the commercial-scale DLE unit will be transported to the phase one production facility in Saskatchewan for installation.
Commissioning is on target for quarter four with first production expected to support initial revenue generation under the company’s binding offtake agreement with Hydro Lithium.
The DLE unit is made up of four commercial scale columns and represents a significant scale up from the single commercial scale Li Pro DLE column deployed by Standard Lithium.
Standard Lithium has reported strong operating results from its Arkansas facility including the successful processing of approximately 1,000,000 barrels of brine and 95% plus lithium recovery and 99% rejection of key contaminants.
The recent binding offtake agreement with Hydro Lithium secures 100% of phase one production, equivalent to 150 tonnes per annum of lithium carbonate equivalent.
The South Korea company is also providing approximately $10 million of proprietary refining equipment at the Saskatchewan site.
PL9 is up 16.7% to 0.7¢. Mkt cap $33.48M.
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