HARARE, Australian mining company Prospect Resources says the laboratory at its Arcadia lithium mining in Zimbabwe project is now fully operational and achieving consistent high Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) in all assays including trace analyses of lithium carbonate being produced from the pilot plant.
The Arcadia project is located approximately 38 kilometres east of Harare in the high veld, close to the long established Arcturus gold mine. The project is the largest lithium deposit in Africa, comprising 808,000
tons of lithium oxide.
The Zimbabwe government in 2017 granted the company National Project Status to develop Arcadia. President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to officiate at the ground-breaking ceremony of Arcadia Mine later this year.
Through the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), the country this year also sealed a deal with a foreign investor to exploit lithium deposits worth an estimated 1.4 billion US dollars in
Matabeleland North Province.
Prospect Resources said in a statement: The laboratory is also fully functional in the metallurgical test work that will be instrumental in the beneficiation plant commissioning and ongoing optimization."
The laboratory is fully equipped with an XRD mineral analyser, AAS elemental analyser as well as a range of other equipment. The aim of the laboratory has been to train and maintain a full complement of chemists, assayers, flotation recovery technicians and grade control technicians.
The Arcadia lithium carbonate pilot plant has milled over 2 tonnes of ore at an average grade, over the past week. Prospect Resources said lithium carbonate (LC) inventory were at 100 kilogrammes, all of which await final purification to battery grade levels.
More than 13 kg of pure lithium carbonate (PLC) has been produced in the past week at an average purity of 99.6 percent LC and is meeting or exceeding battery grade specifications," it said. "This product is expected to be made available for sale and due diligence purposes by prospective customers."
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK
