Jindalee Achieves Production of Battery-Grade Lithium Carbonate from McDermitt

Jindalee Lithium Limited (Jindalee, the Company) is delighted to announce the successful production of battery-grade lithium carbonate from ore sourced from the McDermitt Lithium Project (the Project). This achievement represents a significant milestone, as all stages of the processing flowsheet for the Project—ranging from ore beneficiation and leaching to purification and the production of battery-grade lithium carbonate—have now been validated.

These findings, along with other recently identified value optimization opportunities, will be integrated into the Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) currently in progress, which is expected to be completed in Q4 2024.

Jindalee’s CEO, Ian Rodger, remarked: “The successful production of battery-grade lithium carbonate from McDermitt ore marks a significant milestone for Jindalee. This accomplishment greatly reduces the risk associated with our processing flowsheet and highlights McDermitt's potential to supply high-quality lithium chemicals to the growing US battery market. We are very encouraged by the outstanding results achieved since we began the PFS metallurgical testing program with Fluor and Hazen in mid-2023. We expect these results to substantially support the outcomes of the McDermitt Lithium Project PFS, which is now scheduled for release in Q4 2024.”

After evaluating various alternatives, acid leaching with beneficiation was chosen as the preferred processing method for the Project in March 2023. This decision followed a review of previous test work and a high-level benchmarking of five comparable lithium projects by Fluor Corporation (Fluor), a global engineering, procurement, construction, and maintenance company. The review suggested that acid leaching with beneficiation would yield the most favorable economic outcome for the Project. The resulting McDermitt flowsheet closely resembles the one used and extensively validated by Lithium Americas Corporation (TSX: LAC) at its Thacker Pass project, which is currently under construction and located about 30km south of the McDermitt Lithium Project within the McDermitt Caldera.

In June 2023, Fluor was appointed as the lead engineer for the McDermitt PFS, overseeing an extensive bench-scale metallurgical testing program at Hazen Research Inc. in Colorado, USA. This program is focused on validating the selected flowsheet and generating data to support the PFS (PFS Test Work). So far, Jindalee has reported outstanding results from the McDermitt PFS Test Work, including positive outcomes from beneficiation tests conducted in November 2023 and acid leaching tests completed in January 2024.

Key highlights include:

Beneficiation:  Attrition scrubbing of a composite sample of McDermitt ore (250μm cut-size) resulted in a 92.0% lithium recovery with a 25.3% mass rejection. This indicates strong potential for removing acid-consuming materials and enhancing the lithium grade of the leach feed.

Acid Leaching: High lithium (Li) extraction rates were achieved through sulfuric acid leaching of the beneficiated McDermitt ore. Lithium extraction from composite samples averaged 93% (250μm) and 94% (75μm) using 500kg of sulfuric acid per tonne of leach feed.