(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors)
Australian lithium developer () has a growing success on its hands already with a disruptive technology to change the way lithium has been produced in the past.
Cobre has a technical alliance with Strategic Metallurgy P/L to commercialise disruptive lithium extraction technology based on the recovery of lithium from micas; these minerals not generally used as a source of lithium.
In short this advantage sees Cobre as the first and only company to produce battery-grade Li carbonate from micas. This has enabled rapid accumulation of assets.
The alliance with Strategic Metallurgy provides all important access to Cobre to technology protected by patent applications.
Another key piece of the jigsaw saw the signing of a non-binding Heads of Agreement with (ASX:EMH) to evaluate lithium mineralisation at its Cinovec project in the Czech Republic.
What is causing some of the excitement is that results to date place Cinovec as one of the largest hard-rock lithium deposits in the world.
Cobre commenced intensive metallurgical test work on material taken from Cinovec that saw successful float tests undertaken on Cinovec tailings in the Czech Republic.
Leaching the float concentrates achieved extractions of 92-97% and subsequent processing produced lithium carbonate of very high quality.
Work undertaken by Cobre on the Cinovec deposit was vital in a re-assessment of the resource as a primary source of lithium.
This saw a 285% increase in resource tonnage to an Inferred Resource of 5.5 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent of (LCE) 514.8 million tonnes at 0.43% Li2O.
If this weren't interesting enough there is an additional Exploration Target of 3.4-5.3 million tonnes of LCE 350-450 million tonnes at 0.39-0.47% Li2O.
All this achieved at Cinovec by in just three short months which sets the bar high for competitors. The partnership with provides a large resource at potentially very low operating cost (bottom quartile costs <$2000/t of Li carbonate produced (after credits).
Which is far less than production from comparable hard-rock deposits and actually comparable with those of brine producers.
What does this mean
has now produced battery-grade lithium carbonate from Cinovec and Lepidolite Hill and is examining Ravensthorpe Lake Seabrook and Pilgangoora in Western Australia as other sources.
In other words its disruptive lithium processing technology on two deposits successfully demonstrated the veracity of the leaching process and the ability to recover lithium as high-purity carbonate.
Pilot testing facilities are currently under construction in Perth Western Australia and the first pilot run is expected to commence during the June quarter.
Demand for lithium batteries is of course soaring with a yawning supply gap that lithium micas could fill.
Throw in a zero energy footprint waste materials with no mining cost high feed grades and fast reaction time and Cobre has positioned itself to play a part to feed global demand.
Cobre also applied for an exploration licence application lodged at Greenbushes WA adjacent to the world’s largest hard-rock lithium producer Talison Lithium - adding future exploration blue sky upside.
Key appointment
Shaping as a key appointment is that of George Bauk as non-executive chairman of that could fill the missing link given his expertise in critical metals with ().
He was also part of the negotiation of offtake agreements for with major international suppliers as well as successful fund raising initiatives generating more than $90 million.
This should assist in capital and fund raising for . We would not bet against it.
There is a lot to like of progress made and the strategic moves to date at . Stay tuned there is more to come.
Proactive Investors Australia is the market leader in producing news articles and research reports on ASX emerging companies with distribution in Australia UK North America and Hong Kong / China.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.