Name of the Project
Kachi lithium brine project.

Location
Catamarca, Argentina.

Project Owner/s
Lithium developer Lake Resources.

Project Description
A prefeasibility study (PFS) has demonstrated Kachi’s potential to deliver high-purity product – based on a sustainable and scalable process – required by battery makers.

The PFS envisages a long-life, low-cost operation with a production target of 25 500 t/y of battery-grade lithium carbonate using direct lithium extraction technology based on ion exchange, which, in turn, is based on an indi­cated resource of one-million tonnes lithium car­bonate equivalent.

The process involves the treatment of about 23-million cubic metres a year of brine at 250 g/ℓ lithium, with an overall plant recovery of 83.2%. The eluate from the process is further concentrated and purified, and then fed into a conventional lithium carbonate plant.

No solvent extraction plant is required to remove boron.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $1.05-billion and an internal rate of return of 25%, with a payback from first product delivery of five years.

Capital Expenditure
The project entails an investment of $544-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Lake Resources has reached an agreement with its development partner Lilac Solutions to set aside differences in the development of the Kachi pilot plant.

A dispute emerged in September over the timeline for the development of the pilot plant, with Lake and Lilac disagreeing over the timing of a milestone, which would earn Lilac a 25% interest in the project.

The two companies have now concluded dispute resolution in the form of a contract amendment, which enables the teams to reset the relationship and jointly focus on delivery.

In resolving the dispute, Lake and Lilac have agreed to an amended timeline, which both are confident can be achieved; as before, Lake will have certain buy-back rights if Lilac does not meet agreed testing criteria in a timely manner.

The demonstration plant has now produced more than 15% of the total plant’s forecast output in the short period since the plant came online in the fourth quarter.

About 20 000 ℓ of lithium chloride have been produced to date and production continues, consistent with the demonstration plant’s planned operational schedule.

A definitive feasibility study, currently under way, will consider a production case of 50 000 t/y, as a result of increased demand from potential offtakers.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Lilac Solutions (lithium extraction testwork); Hatch (engineering and design services); and Citi and JP Morgan (finance coordinators of the Kachi project).

Contact Details for Project Information
Lake Wells, tel +61 2 9299 9690 or email hello@lakeresources.com.au.