Lithium explorers are getting hotter folks. CleanTech Lithium [LSE:CTL], the lithium explorer we are tracking which is searching for lithium resources in Chile, said yesterday it has signed an MOU with China’s SunResin. The stock is now up 3.1% YTD, up 80% over 30 days.
The SunResin deal is a big one for CTL. SunResin is a Shenzhen-listed company with a market cap of $4bn. It will be working with CleanTech Lithium and its technical partner, Beyond Lithium, on the planned pilot scale production tests at the company’s Laguna Verde brine. Both parties have said they will look to negotiate commercial terms which would allow CleanTech Lithium to fast-track development of its projects to deliver battery grade lithium to the international market.
CleanTech Lithium will be making use of SunResin’s modular DLE plants. This is starting to look like the real deal. SunResin is recognised as the world leader in the deployment of commercial scale DLE plants. It has hands-on experience of implementing DLE projects, and their role in the CleanTTech Lithium projects is already being described as “invaluable” by the company’s management.
Let’s look at the numbers here: SunResin has over 10 years of experience in the DLE space, and has executed nine commercial DLE contracts which represent 73,000 tonnes per annum of lithium production capacity. It will be working with CleanTech Lithium on pilot scale production. It provides pilot scale units which can be deployed to a site with a plan on the table already to start pilot scale production at Laguna Verde in early 2023.
CleanTech Lithium said that the objective of the piloting is to demonstrate the potential for a first phase 10,000 tonnes per annum commercial scale production that is being planned for each of its projects. Commercial terms are still under negotiation, but SunResin recently demonstrated its ability to deliver by announcing the shipment from China of 10,000 tons of modular DLE units for a 25,000 tonne per annum lithium production plant for a project in Argentina. This was just five months after signing a contract in February 2022.
The Argentina project in question is being run by Tibet Summit Resources, and is a $721m lithium project with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes per annum of battery grade lithium. The project is due to start production in the first half of next year. SunResin will provide the project’s first 25,000 tonne per annum phase in a contract valued at $102.6m.Shares in CleanTech Lithium are already up 80% over a 30 day period following the announcement that it has a viable new resource at Francisco Basin which is within 100km of the company’s more advanced Laguna Verde project. It had not been previously drilled for lithium. Drill holes confirmed a brine aquifer with a peak grade of 324 mg/L and an average grade of 305 mg/L. A maiden JORC inferred resource estimate is expected in the coming weeks.
On completion of the current four holes at Francisco Basin (drilling scheduled to recommence in October following the winter break in Chile), the resource estimate will be expanded and upgraded to Measured and Indicated, the company confirmed at the start of this month.
