Lake Resources and Lilac Solutions Announce Achievement of Critical Milestones for Project Kachi

● Demonstration plant has operated continuously for over 1,000 hours to date, fulfilling 1,000-hour requirement;

● 40,000 litres of Lithium Chloride concentrate have been produced within specified concentration limits, confirming previous test results;

● Output sent to Saltworks for conversion to Lithium Carbonate

Clean lithium developer Lake Resources NL (ASX: LKE; OTC: LLKKF) (“LAKE”) and its direct lithium extraction technology partner, Lilac Solutions (“Lilac”), are pleased to announce the on-time achievement of key milestones for Project Kachi. Project Kachi is a world-class lithium development project that is poised to lead the industry in the production of high-quality lithium with a minimal environmental footprint.

As outlined in the agreement between Lilac and Lake, Lilac has successfully operated the Demonstration Plant for 1,000 consecutive hours and produced 40,000 litres of lithium chloride eluate before December 31, 2022, and therefore has met all key testing milestones in accordance with the agreed timeline. The lithium chloride eluate produced by Lilac is in the process of being shipped to Saltworks and converted to lithium carbonate, after which it will be independently tested for purity.

Lake CEO and Managing Director David Dickson said the achievement of these milestones demonstrated the significant promise of Project Kachi. “Lilac has proven to be an exceptional partner to work with in our joint pursuit of the efficient and cleaner delivery of high-quality lithium, which is in increasingly high demand by battery makers,” said Mr. Dickson. “

We are pleased with our accomplishments to date and are intently focused on the next stages of this project. Above all, we are proud of the work we and Lilac have achieved thus far to innovate the production of lithium in a way that is inclusive and respectful of the local communities in which we operate, and protective of the environment.” Lilac Solutions CEO David Snydacker commented: “Lilac’s ion exchange technology is revolutionizing lithium extraction, and we are very excited to ship these first truckloads of lithium chloride produced on site at the Kachi project. Increasing the global supply of lithium is critical for our energy transformation, and we are proud of our progress in building an environmentally- and socially responsible lithium supply chain. We look forward to future achievements alongside Lake Resources.” 

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Lilac’s commitment (and cash) should take Lake Resources one step closer to producing what it calls the “world’s cleanest lithium”.

For the past few years it has been testing the technology with Lilac, which is backed by Breakthrough Energy and whose board is stacked with who’s who of billionaires including Gates, Bezos and Michael Bloomberg.

The deal, expected to be announced this week, sees California’s Lilac finally commit to working with Lake Resources at Kachi.

Sources said Lilac will also have to fund future development costs of the project, estimated to be about $US50 million.

The Kachi lease covers 75,000 hectares, and is among the 10 largest brine resources globally, according to Lake. The company expects 25 years of production to use up 20 per cent of the resource, with production in the first half of 2024 expected to be around 25,500 tonnes of lithium carbonate a year.

Lake has previously told shareholders it could cost $US544 million to get to that stage, while it would cost $US107 million a year to run the project. Annual EBITDA could be worth $US260 million, it has said.

The project sits in South America’s lithium triangle, which includes areas in Bolivia, Argentina and Chile that together produce 40 per cent of the world’s lithium. The world’s five largest lithium producers have operations in the region, including Orocobre.

Lilac uses a patented ion exchange technology, which allows it to produce lithium from brine resources at much lower costs and environmental footprint.

Lake is just the latest of lithium miners heading offshore, as demand from batteries and electric vehicles drives up share prices in the sector.