Venari Minerals reports a breakthrough in lithium upgrading at its Red Mountain Project, achieving up to a 132% increase in lithium concentration through innovative attrition scrubbing test-work. This advancement paves the way for a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate by year-end.
- Attrition scrubbing test-work upgrades lithium grades by 44.8% (high-grade) and 132% (low-grade)
- Significant mass reductions of over 59% achieved, enhancing concentrate quality
- Calcite, a reagent-consuming mineral, reduced by up to 36%, improving processing efficiency
- Hectorite clay identified as the sole lithium-bearing mineral phase
- Project advancing towards maiden Mineral Resource Estimate and lithium carbonate production
Significant Metallurgical Breakthrough
Venari Minerals NL (ASX, VMS) has announced compelling results from metallurgical test-work at its Red Mountain Lithium Project in Nevada, USA. The company’s application of attrition scrubbing; a mineral processing technique that separates minerals by particle impact within a slurry; has yielded lithium grade upgrades of 44.8% in high-grade samples and an impressive 132% in low-grade samples. This process also achieved substantial mass reductions exceeding 59%, effectively concentrating the lithium-bearing material.
Enhancing Lithium Concentration and Reducing Waste
The test-work notably reduced calcite content, a mineral that consumes reagents during processing, by up to 36%. This reduction is critical as it lowers processing costs and improves lithium recovery efficiency. The lithium mineralisation was confirmed to be hosted exclusively in the clay mineral hectorite, a finding consistent with other major Nevada lithium deposits such as Lithium Americas’ Thacker Pass project.
Context Within the Red Mountain Project
Red Mountain, staked by Venari in 2023, is situated within tertiary lacustrine sediments known for hosting lithium deposits. Prior drilling has intersected strong lithium mineralisation, and previous beneficiation work using Falcon C concentrators had already demonstrated promising upgrades. The latest attrition scrubbing results surpass these earlier efforts in both lithium grade improvement and mass reduction, though with a wider range of lithium recoveries.
Next Steps and Strategic Outlook
Venari plans to continue refining the attrition scrubbing process, including exploring longer water exposure times and finer feed crushing to enhance lithium recovery further. Concurrently, lithium carbonate test-work is underway to produce technical and battery-grade lithium carbonate products, aligning with the company’s goal to advance the project towards a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate by the end of 2025. These developments position Red Mountain as a potentially significant new source of lithium in the competitive Nevada lithium landscape.
Implications for Investors and the Lithium Market
These metallurgical advancements not only improve the economic prospects of Red Mountain but also contribute to the broader lithium supply chain, which is critical amid growing demand for battery metals. Venari’s progress will be closely watched as it moves into resource estimation and technical studies, potentially influencing investor sentiment and market positioning within the lithium sector.
Bottom Line?
Venari’s metallurgical gains at Red Mountain mark a pivotal step toward unlocking a high-grade lithium resource with promising commercial potential.
Questions in the middle?
- How will further attrition scrubbing refinements impact overall lithium recovery and processing costs?
- What timeline and scale can investors expect for the maiden Mineral Resource Estimate and subsequent technical studies?
- How might Red Mountain’s upgraded lithium concentrate influence Venari’s competitive positioning in Nevada’s lithium market?