NORAM LITHIUM CORP. Noram Lithium Corp. provided an update on its 100% owned Zeus Lithium Project ("Zeus" or the "Project"), located in Clayton Valley, Nevada. Earlier 2023, the Company initiated a third round of metallurgical testing for Zeus at Kemetco Research Inc. ("Kemetco") based in Richmond, BCCanada.
Since commencement of the program, a number of key results have been obtained to support the process design at Zeus which is based on known technology and is similar to other clay lithium projects in the United States. The Company has developed an integrated mass and energy balance which models the process, from mineralized material coming from the open pit through to high-purity lithium carbonate product. The mass and energy balance is supported by the results from the current round of metallurgical testing and will be the basis for the upcoming engineering studies on the Project.
Highlights of the process development and laboratory work completed to-date: Feed preparation/beneficiation - coarse material (+75 µm) is rejected ahead of leaching, resulting in a 10% reduction in material mass and a 40% reduction in acid-consuming calcite; Sulphuric acid leaching - extraction of 89% lithium is achieved with 2 hours of retention time at 90°C; Acid consumption has been reduced by approximately 20% by including a solid-liquid separation post leaching and recycling of the acid solution; Iron and aluminum removal - successfully achieved using limestone with only 2.6% lithium loss to the iron-aluminum residue; The process residues can be prepared for stable, long-term tailings storage using conventional process equipment; Magnesium and sodium can be successfully removed from solution by crystallization with lithium losses of only 2.7%; Overall lithium recovery for the process is estimated to be 83%. Further leach optimization work is currently being undertaken on higher-grade samples of approximately 1,450 ppm lithium to reflect the new high-grade mine plan. Further improvements to lithium extraction in leaching may be achieved from the higher-grade samples.
