By 
Pursuit Minerals Ltd (ASX: PUR) (“PUR”, “Pursuit” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide the following update on key developments for its Lithium Carbonate Pilot Plant which has commenced the first phase of operations to produce Lithium Carbonate.
Pilot Plant commissioning complete with first phase of operations for the production of Lithium Carbonate underway.Completion of dynamic simulation, mass balances and plant layout design conceptually producing 250 tonnes per annum of 99.95% battery grade Lithium Carbonate via conventional evaporation process method.Engagement of Ausenco to complete independent peer review study of the 250 tonne per annum plant design, block flow process, and evaporation pond design.Engagement of highly experienced engineering team to oversee and manage plant operations and first production of Lithium Carbonate.
The Company has completed the commissioning works of the Lithium Carbonate Pilot Plant and will now begin operations with the overall goal of producing battery grade Lithium Carbonate. The Pilot Plant will look to produce an initial sample batch using synthetic brine of approximately 50-100kg of product.
Following completion of this milestone, evaporated brine, currently being sourced from the Stage 1 Drilling Program, will be utilised to produce approximately 2 to 10 tonnes of Lithium Carbonate products anticipated to be battery grade product. After this, the Company will consider relocation of the Pilot Plant to site following the completion of construction and filling of evaporation ponds to provide feed for the plant.
In relation to the commencement of operations at the plant, Pursuit Managing Director & CEO, Aaron Revelle, said:
“The Rio Grande Sur Project continues to advance toward first production at a significant pace. With plant operations now underway, we look forward to the production of the first Lithium Carbonate products demonstrating the enormous potential of the Rio Grande Sur Lithium Project.”
In conjunction with our Stage 1 drilling program which is currently underway and the potential upgrade to our existing JORC resource, we continue to make significant progress on multiple fronts as we move toward becoming a Lithium producer. To this end, we continue to progress the environmental permitting applications to commence construction of the evaporation ponds which is currently being targeted for this year. The entire team is very excited about the production process, and we look forward to reporting on the results over the coming months.”
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