Millennial Lithium Corp. Provides Progress Update on the Pastos Grandes Project, Argentina
Newsfile Corp.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2019) - Millennial Lithium Corp. (TSXV: ML) (FSE: A3N2) (OTCQX: MLNLF) ("Millennial" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update of activities at its Pastos Grandes Project in the province of Salta, Argentina. Advances at the project site include ongoing liming and feeding of brine to pilot ponds, pilot plant construction and an additional long-term pumping test. In addition Millennial has made significant progress in securing its "Fiscal Stability" status to establish the tax regime and other benefits for the project for the next 30 years.
Farhad Abasov, President and CEO, commented, "We are very pleased with the progress to date at our Pastos Grandes Project. The commissioning of the pilot plant facility will be an important milestone for the Company as we will produce battery grade lithium carbonate by basically duplication of the commercial design for the company's 24,000 tonne per year lithium carbonate plant outlined in the Feasibility Study. On the corporate level, the Company is encouraged by the consent of the various National, Provincial and local government entities concerning our application for the Fiscal Stability protection allowing us to be confident in government support for our project and the mining sector in general. The Company is also actively advancing financing, offtake and other strategic talks with large industry players."
The liming plant at Millennial's pilot pond complex is fully operational and treating up to 100 m3 of brine per day, directing the partially purified brine to a large holding pond for concentration of the lithium in preparation for treatment at the Company's pilot plant facility. The liming operation has been successful in reducing the sulphate and magnesium content of the brine and lithium plant feed grade is expected to be reached by December, 2019.
The pilot plant facility is currently under construction and is expected to treat plant grade brine in December, 2019. The pilot plant is planned to produce approximately 3 tonnes per month of battery grade lithium carbonate and includes a final bicarbonation purification stage to ensure consistent production of battery grade lithium carbonate. All material components including the solvent extraction system for the removal of boron, reactors for primary and secondary carbonation, ion exchange units and final bicarbonation reactors as well as a reverse osmosis water purification system are on site and assembly and construction are underway. All electrical systems are in place and the pilot plant complex will be powered by the Company's solar hybrid generating system.
To support the Feasibility Study and to gain additional hydrogeological information a long-term, constant rate pumping test of 15 days was completed at well PGPW16-01. Well PGPW16-01 was drilled using mud rotary methods to a total depth of 358m. Well PGPW16-01 was constructed with 10" casing to a depth of 100m and 6" casing from 100m to 351m. The annular space between the borehole and the casing is filled with gravel pack.
A short-term (60 hours) pumping test was completed at PGPW16-01 in 2017 at an average pumping rate of 27.7 litres/second (L/s) and yielded a favorable transmissivity of 550 m2/day (see News Release dated July 10, 2017). The long-term, constant rate pumping test was done at PGPW16-01 for a total of 15 days in 2019, at an average rate of 23.2 L/s. A favorable transmissivity was calculated at 400 m2/day, confirming the robust transmissivity calculated from the 2017 test. Maximum drawdown was approximately 15m and is considered to be very favorable for allowing additional pumping if needed in the future, and for minimizing pumping costs. These results, along with the results from the 2017 testwork, support the previous assumptions that large flow rates are possible in this part of the Pastos Grandes Project. Numerical simulations for possible brine extraction well locations will be further studied to optimize brine extraction performance in the detailed engineering phase of the project.
In addition to technical progress at Pastos Grandes, Millennial continues to advance the project at the corporate level. Recent meetings with national Mining Secretary in Buenos Aires has confirmed that Millennial is covered under the benefits of Fiscal Stability as proscribed under the National Mining Law. Fiscal Stability fixes the maximum overall tax rates and brings additional benefits for Millennial for a period of 30 years allowing for long term planning for the project and protection against potential future political fluctuations. Millennial originally applied for Fiscal Stability in Q4 2018; meetings this week with the Mining Secretary and his deputies indicate final approval has been granted, with the delivery of the final signed resolution in early Q4 2019.
The Company has entered into an agreement (the "AX1 Agreement") for investor relations consulting activities with AX1 Capital Corp. ("AX1"), a company wholly owned by Alexander Langer. Mr. Langer is a successful public markets specialist with over 15 years of experience in all aspects of equity financing. Mr. Langer started his career as an Investment Advisor with Canaccord Wealth Management and provides management consulting services to listed and private issuers. He currently acts as Vice President to the Company and holds 235,000 incentive stock options of the Company. Services under the AX1 Agreement are expected to be delivered primarily from the Company's offices in Vancouver, Canada. Under the terms of the AX1 Agreement, AX1 will coordinate and manage investor relations activities for the Company. Compensation for the services is $15,000 per month. All compensation must be pre-approved by the Company under the Company's Corporate Governance Guidelines (which cover investor relations activities). Funds for payments made under the AX1 Agreement are expected to come from the Company's general working capital. No payment in the form of securities of the Company is to be made for services under the AX1 Agreement. The AX1 Agreement has a term expiring on August 1, 2021.
This news release has been reviewed by Iain Scarr, AIPG CPG., Chief Operating Officer of the Company and a Qualified Person as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101.
To find out more about Millennial Lithium Corp. please contact Investor Relations at (604) 662-8184 or email info@millenniallithium.com.
MILLENNIAL LITHIUM CORP.
"Farhad Abasov"
President, CEO and Director
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This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to future prices of commodities, accuracy of mineral or resource exploration activity, reserves or resources, regulatory or government requirements or approvals including approvals of title and mining rights or licenses, the reliability of third party information, continued access to mineral properties or infrastructure, changes in laws, rules and regulations in Argentina which may impact upon the Company or its properties or the commercial exploitation of those properties, currency risks including the exchange rate of USD$ for Cdn$, fluctuations in the market for lithium, changes in exploration costs and government royalties, export policies or taxes in Argentina and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affections such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
