Canada Lithium Corp. produced its initial run of 99.1% lithium carbonate from its processing plant 60 km north of Val d’Or, Quebec, in early July. The material was then upgraded to 99.5% battery-grade material during the commissioning of the plant’s solvent extraction and bicarbonate circuits. The first shipment to the Tewoo Group in China under a five-year off-take agreement occurred soon thereafter.
All circuits of the Canada Lithium mine and plant had been tested at commissioning-level volumes, and the company said it is ramping up production to design capacity of 20,000 metric tons per year (mt/y) of lithium carbonate, which it expects to achieve during the first quarter of 2014. The mining and crushing operations will add second shifts over the next few months. At full production, the open-pit operation will mine approximately 1 million mt/y of ore.
Canada Lithium anticipates that the initial operation will consist of open-pit mining to a depth of 150 m below surface, utilizing 150-mt haul trucks and hydraulic excavators. Mine life is currently estimated at 14.9 years.
Canada Lithium also reported that it has been awarded Certificates of Registration for both its Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety systems. The Environmental Management system certificate was granted for compliance with ISO 14001:2004, while the OH&S Management system was certified under the BS OHSAS 18001:2007.
