Nov 26 2014
Lithium Americas Corp. ("LAC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the formal Inauguration of the final stage POSCO lithium extraction pilot plant at its Cauchari-Olaroz lithium project in Jujuy Province, Argentina.
Lithium Americas and POSCO signed a Co-Operation Agreement in January 2014. POSCO, Korea's largest steel company and a leader in the development of advanced material processes, has been developing an innovative lithium extraction technology, which it claims is both much faster than traditional brine evaporation technology, and minimizes the environmental footprint associated with large scale evaporation ponds. POSCO has previously successfully operated a 2 tonne pilot plant in 2011, and a 20 tonne pilot plant in 2013.
As announced on November 4, 2014, POSCO's final stage 200 tonne lithium extraction pilot plant was delivered for assembly to LAC's Cauchari salar in the Jujuy province of northern Argentina. Following the delivery, assembly and operation of the Pilot Plant, LAC and POSCO are pleased to announce that the formal Inauguration Ceremony is expected to occur on or about December 20, 2014. The Inauguration will involve senior executives from POSCO and Lithium Americas, and the Governor of Jujuy Province, Eduardo Fellner. The Inauguration Ceremony will receive extensive media coverage in Korea as well as Argentina.
LAC's Executive Chairman, Tom Hodgson, commented: "We are celebrating a monumental achievement. POSCO and LAC have worked extremely hard and productively together over the past year to get us to this point. With the strong support of Governor Fellner, the provincial government of Jujuy, and the federal government of Argentina, the delivery of the Pilot Plant has been achieved in record time. I can't say enough about the work of our team at Minera Exar in Jujuy, led by Franco Mignacco, nor how much we have enjoyed our developing relationship with the POSCO team led by Dr. Uong Chon. It has been a true team effort, of which we are all very proud."
LAC Chief Executive Officer, John Kanellitsas, added: "There is no question that we have a very large, world-class lithium resource at Cauchari, and there is no question that POSCO has developed a game-changing lithium processing technology, which achieves much higher recovery rates, in much less time, and with a much smaller environmental footprint, than is the case with the conventional evaporation approach. We want to ensure we are taking full advantage of significant advancements in processing technologies that have occurred since the last large scale lithium brine project entered into continuous production more than fifteen years ago. Both LAC and POSCO are strongly committed to sustainability and energy efficiency as cornerstones of their business plans."