LithiumBank Engages Hatch to Test Boardwalk Lithium Brine

LithiumBank Resources Corp. (“LithiumBank” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the commencement of Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) mineral processing test work on brines from the Company’s Boardwalk Project, located 80 km east of Grande Prairie, AB. LithiumBank has engaged Hatch to assess leading DLE technologies in parallel with the shortlisted DLE technology companies to inform a Preliminary Economic Assessment and subsequent commercial plant design.

Highlights

Hatch was retained to design, test, and manage all DLE programs for LithiumBank;
Selected DLE technologies for testing using Boardwalk brine is underway; and
Results are expected to be used as inputs to the process design of a facility to treat raw brine and produce battery-grade lithium chemical products in the NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA).

Hatch is an engineering firm that has expertise in engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) of lithium processing plants. LithiumBank’s management team is working with senior members of Hatch’s lithium group, with recent DLE project experience, to assess DLE technology options for the Boardwalk project. The results of the technology assessment performed by Hatch are expected to be used in preparing a NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) in respect of the Boardwalk Project. This PEA is a key stepping stone toward the design of a commercial facility that the Company anticipates will produce battery-grade lithium chemical products.

LithiumBank first engaged Hatch in August 2021 to conduct a comparative study of multiple North American-based DLE technologies that could deliver a high purity Lithium Chloride (LiCl) concentrate to be used in commercial, battery-grade lithium chemical production from the Boardwalk brine. After an iterative process by Hatch, LithiumBank has narrowed the potential technology providers. The shortlisted companies have received brine from Boardwalk and have commenced test work to determine the key design parameters (e.g. selectivity of the lithium extraction media, extraction kinetics, and media longevity). This level of detail in the test work will provide the necessary information to inform preliminary economics around a lithium processing facility on-site at Boardwalk.

LithiumBank COO, Kevin Piepgrass states:

“We are very excited to have commenced testing our brine with two of the shortlisted DLE technology companies. Both shortlisted companies have developed DLE materials and extraction processes that the Company believes have an ideal set of ranges of conditions required for peak performance. The temperature, pH, and chemistry at Boardwalk make these technologies ideal candidates and we look forward to receiving the results.”

The Brine used in the DLE test work was collected in August 2021 from well 100/09-26-068-22W5/00 located in the South Sturgeon Lake oilfield (see figure 1) and has a reported average grade of 73.8 mg/L Lithium (as previously reported in LithiumBank news release dated June 28, 2022).

The Boardwalk Leduc formation Li-brine inferred resource is globally estimated at 1,122,000 tonnes of elemental Li at an average lithium concentration of 67.1 mg/L Li in 16.7 km³ of formation brine volume (Table 1). The global (total) lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) for the inferred mineral resource is 5,973,000 tonnes of LCE.

Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no guarantee that all or any part of the mineral resource will be converted into a mineral reserve.

Table 1 Boardwalk’s Leduc Formation Li-brine NI 43-101 inferred resource estimate presented as a global (total) resource.

Reporting parameter	Leduc Formation Reef Domain
Aquifer volume	321.99 (km³)
Brine volume	16.72 (km³)
Average lithium concentration	67.1 (mg/L)
Average porosity	5.3 (%)
Average brine in pore space	98.0 (%)
Total elemental lithium resource	1,122,000 (tonnes)
Total lithium carbonate equivalent	5,973,000 tonnes (LCE)

About LithiumBank Resources Corp.

LithiumBank Resources Corp. is an exploration and development company focused on lithium-enriched brine projects in Western Canada where low-carbon-impact, rapid DLE technology can be deployed. LithiumBank currently holds over 3.2 million acres of mineral titles, 2.82M acres in Alberta and 326K acres in Saskatchewan. LithiumBank’s mineral titles are strategically positioned over known reservoirs that provide a unique combination of scale, grade, and exceptional flow rates that are necessary for large-scale direct brine lithium production. LithiumBank is advancing and de-risking several projects in parallel to the Boardwalk Lithium Brine Project.