Australian lithium explorer and developer Arizona Lithium received Phase 1 production approval for its Prairie Lithium Project from Saskatchewan's Ministry of Energy and Resource.
Phase 1 will use a commercial-scale direct lithium extraction (DLE) unit, capable of producing 150 metric tonnes (t)/yr of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE).
The company raised its indicated resource at the Prairie Project to 4.6mn t LCE, up from 4.5mn t, and boosted producible capacity by 120pc to 17,000t/yr LCE.
This marks Saskatchewan's first lithium brine project to reach this milestone, and one of the first in North America approved for initial production, according to Arizona Lithium.
Located in Saskatchewan's Williston Basin, a region historically known for oil and gas, Arizona Lithium's 390,000-acre project uses DLE technology to extract lithium from brine about 2.3km underground.
