Liontown Resources Ltd reports “highly encouraging” results from an initial metallurgical test work program conducted on composite diamond drill core samples from its 100%-owned Kathleen Valley lithium-tantalum project in Western Australia. The results confirm that a saleable lithium concentrate can be produced from the Kathleen Valley project.

Preliminary metallurgical test work delivers:

o 5.9% Li2O from dense media separation concentrate

o 36% mass rejection with two-stage dense media separation (DMS)

o 5.5% Li2O from flotation concentrate

o Low iron (Fe2O3) content of <0.5%

o Predicted recovery of 79% Li2O

o Preliminary Ta2O5 concentrate.

Planned optimisation of the process conditions provides significant potential to achieve a chemical grade product – large scale test work and optimisation scheduled for Q1 2019. The results provide a strong foundation for the recently commenced scoping study.

Lithium oxide (Li2O) grades of 5.9% from two-stage DMS test work and 5.5% from flotation test work resulted in a combined concentrate product of 5.6% Li2O at a predicted recovery of 79% and with a low iron content (<0.5% Fe2O3).

The test work program was conducted at Nagrom’s metallurgical laboratory in Perth, Western Australia and supervised by Lycopodium Minerals.

Given that the individual process units have not yet been optimised for recovery or grade, the results provide strong support for the ability to achieve a saleable Li2O concentrate and increased confidence that a Ta2O5 concentrate can be produced from the Kathleen Valley project. Further diamond core drilling is planned to provide material for this optimisation work.

Commenting on the results, Liontown’s Managing Director, David Richards, said “This is a very exciting time for the Kathleen Valley project, as we take the next important steps to advance this high quality lithium-tantalum deposit from discovery and resource drill out towards commercial development.”

“As stated in September, we have a Mineral Resource of ~21 Mt @1.4% Li2O and 170 ppm Ta2O5, with over 75% in the Measured and Indicated category, located on granted Mining Leases. We are in an established mining jurisdiction close to the sealed Goldfields Highway and adjacent to a powerline running west of the property. These preliminary test work results support our confidence in the project and form a solid base for our recently commissioned scoping study”.

The test work was commissioned on a 300 kg composite sample, created from six diamond drill core holes which were sited to ensure collection of material representative of the Mineral Resource.

The test work flowsheet included the following:

• Crushing and screening to -6.3 +1 mm followed by two-stage heavy media separation to produce a 5.9% Li2O grade concentrate and a throwaway tail
• Pre-concentration of the middlings and -1 mm fines to produce a tantalum concentrate
• Grinding of the tantalum tails to 150 µm and de-sliming prior to froth flotation to produce a flotation concentrate containing 5.5% Li2O with low levels of iron (Fe2O3 <0.50%)

While a tantalum concentrate was produced during the metallurgical test work program, the low mass recovery precluded the implementation of subsequent upgrade process stages. However, the results support the inclusion of a tantalum concentrate recovery in the large scale test work programme scheduled for Q1 2019.

Liontown’s 100%-owned Kathleen Valley lithium project is located on the western edge of the Norseman-Wiluna Belt within the Archaean Yilgarn Craton approximately 400 km north of Kalgoorlie. The lithium mineralisation is hosted within spodumene-bearing pegmatites, which are part of a series of Lithium-Caesium-Tantalum (LCT)-type rare metal pegmatites that intrude mafic and sedimentary rocks in the region.

Eighteen mineralised pegmatites have been identified at the Kathleen Valley project hosted by two pegmatite swarms – Kathleen’s Corner and Mt Mann.

On September 4 2018, Liontown announced a maiden Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource, for the Kathleen Valley project comprising 21.2 Mt @ 1.4% Li2O and 170 ppm Ta2O5. Following release of the Mineral Resource estimate, Liontown commissioned a scoping study based on annual ore production of 1.5 – 2 Mt/y. The study is being overseen by Lycopodium and, in addition to metallurgy, will also incorporate optimisation, engineering, hydrological, environmental and financial studies. The results of the study are scheduled for release in early Q1 2019.