Aug 22 2013
Canada Lithium Corp. ("Canada Lithium" or the "Company") announced today that as part of its on-going commissioning of the mine and process plant near Val d'Or, Quebec, the operation will undergo a temporary shutdown for the purposes of both maintenance and upgrading of certain circuits of the process plant.
The main focus will be to install an acid cleaning circuit, a bicarbonate recovery circuit and an upgrade to some of the pumping capacity. Recently appointed Plant Manager Michael Seawright, a former FMC Corp. lithium process veteran, will oversee the three-week program.
The Company also noted that sample shipments of battery-grade lithium carbonate product to Japan, Korea and China have been completed. Product quality is in the range 99.5% to 99.9%. One of the reasons for installing the bicarbonate recovery circuit is to continue to enhance the quality of the product. Representatives from the Company's off-take partner Tewoo ERDC visited the operation last week and Marubeni Corp. representatives will be on site next week.
It is anticipated that lithium carbonate product will be shipped to the off-take partners in due course following the maintenance/upgrade program. Initially, the feed for the plant will come from the 100,000 tonnes of stockpiled ore at the site. The Company continues to monitor working capital and is scheduling to re-start mining operations a few weeks after the plant start-up.
About Canada Lithium Corp.
The Company holds a 100% interest in the Québec Lithium Project near Val d'Or, the geographical heart of the Québec mining industry. It has completed construction and is in the commissioning phase of an open-pit mine and on-site processing plant with estimated capacity to produce approximately 20,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate annually. Metallurgical tests have produced battery-grade lithium carbonate samples. A five-year off-take agreement for a minimum of 12,000 tonnes per year was recently signed with Tewoo-ERDC, one of China's largest commodities traders. A second off-take for up to 5,000 tonnes per year was recently signed with Marubeni Corp., a major Japanese commodities trading company. Lithium carbonate is used in lithium-ion batteries that power consumer electronics (laptops, tablets, etc.), power-grid storage facilities and electric and hybrid vehicles. For more information regarding the Company, please refer to the Company's public filings available at www.sedar.com and www.canadalithium.com including, in particular, the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2012 and its Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2012 and the Financials and MD&A for the three-month period ended March 31, 2013. The Company trades under the symbol CLQ on the TSX and on the U.S. OTCQX under the symbol CLQMF.