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Critical Elements Corp
Symbol CRE
Shares Issued 120,664,372
Close 2014-08-01 C$ 0.275
Market Cap C$ 33,182,702
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Critical Elements test shows 96% Li2CO3 recovery at Rose

2014-08-05 10:52 ET - News Release

Mr. Jean-Sebastien Lavallee reports

CRITICAL ELEMENTS CORPORATION ACHIEVES LITHIUM CARBONATE PURITY OF 99.98% DURING OPTIMIZATION TESTING PROGRAM

Critical Elements Corp.'s laboratory-scale hydrometallurgical testing is in progress at the SGS Minerals Services laboratory in Lakefield, Ont., as part of the feasibility study of the Rose lithium-tantalum project. The testing is a continuation of those made previously at the ACME met laboratory in Vancouver, as part of the project's preliminary economic assessment study (PEA). The objective of the present testing is highlighted below:

  1. Validating the company's lithium carbonate manufacturing process:
    • Determining the optimal parameters for each process stage;
    • Evaluating and optimizing recovery rates for each process stage;
  2. Purity of produced lithium carbonate:
    • Ensuring that the lithium carbonate produced meets the quality requirement of battery-grade lithium carbonate;
  3. Investigating the possibility to produce lithium hydroxide from lithium carbonate;
  4. Assessing the possible recovery of valuable byproducts.

The results obtained from the tests to date have shown that the developed process can safely produce lithium carbonate with an overall recovery rate of up to 96 per cent. The overall purity (calculated by difference, by subtracting the main impurities) gave values of up to 99.98 per cent, and thus, surpassing the requirements of battery-grade lithium carbonate. The success in producing this high-purity product is directly related to the selected processing method (sodium carbonate alkaline process), which when compared with the sulphuric acid process, presents less risk to the environment and dissolves less impurities at the leaching stage, which minimizes difficulties relating to the final product purification.

Currently, efforts are focused on the reduction of specific impurities (manganese, aluminum and copper). Within this framework, a sensitivity study on the possible contamination from the laboratory equipment for two types of autoclaves (in monel and stainless steel) was performed.

An evaluation of the performance of a two-step decomposition process is also planned. The filtrate obtained after the first decomposition will be subjected to an ion exchange purification through a selective resin before being sent to the second decomposition. By doing so, the company expects to substantially reduce all major impurities, while at the same time, eliminating the risk of building those impurities through decomposition filtrates recycling in the process.

Tests to generate lithium hydroxide (LiOH) from lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) are also scheduled, expecting to prove an integrated production system for the two lithium products and thus, flexibility in terms of market opportunities.

A final component of the planned testing is the investigation for possible recovery of certain byproducts such as alumina (as alumina trihydrate -- ATH), which is in great demand currently in the market primarily as a fire retardant, and silica (as pure silicates). It is worthy to note that the recovery of these byproducts, in addition to the advantage of generating more value for the project, will also significantly reduce the solid residues from the process, that is the environmental impact of the project. These tests will be performed at the pyrometallurgical laboratory of XStrata (XPS Consulting & Testwork Services) located in Falconbridge, Ont.

Jean-Sebastien Lavallee (OGQ No. 773), geologist, shareholder, president and chief executive officer of the company, and a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this release.

"First, we want to thank all of our shareholders for their patience and continued support of management since the discovery of the Rose lithium-tantalum deposit, especially in the past year as the junior mining sector was out of favour and access to capital was challenging. Due to strong shareholder support, management continues to be very motivated and focused on our main goal, which is to produce battery-grade lithium. We are extremely happy with the results obtained in our optimization phase. To date, we have increased our tantalum recovery by 50 per cent to a now average of 76 per cent. We have also upgraded one of the main flotation reagents to a lower-cost product and improved the lithium concentration grade up to 6.4 per cent. This should positively impact the global operation cost per ton. The optimization phase is a crucial step before the final feasibility plant design, and we will be continuously testing to ensure management controls, to the best of our abilities, the different potential obstacles that can occur ramping up the plant into production," said Mr. Lavallee.

We seek Safe Harbor.

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