Jindalee Resources Limited has announced the commencement of a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) for the McDermitt Lithium Project in the US.
Fluor Corporation, an engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) and maintenance company, has been chosen by Jindalee to serve as the PFS’s lead engineer.
With 21.5 Million tonnes of LCE at a cut-off grade of 1,000 ppm, McDermitt Lithium Project’s inferred mineral resource inventory is 3.0 billion tonnes at 1,340 ppm Li. With a lithium content of 21.5 Mt LCE, McDermitt is the most significant lithium deposit in the US and a major resource on a worldwide scale.
According to Jindalee, Lithium America’s nearby Thacker Pass Project, which is supported by a US$650 million equity investment and exclusive offtake by US automaker General Motors Company (GM), and the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) announcement of a conditional loan of up to US$700 million to support the development of Ioneer Limited’s Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project in Esmerelda County, Nevada, are recent developments in the US lithium sector.
Due to these advances, Jindalee said its Board has more faith in the potential of the McDermitt Lithium Project to meet the US’s fast-expanding need for domestic lithium production.
Jindalee stated that the passing of the US Inflation Reduction Act 2022 (IRA), which provides $369 billion in financing to cut carbon emissions by 40% by 2030, has fueled this need. At least 40% of an EV’s battery components must be supplied in the US (or a Free Trade Agreement partner), increasing to 80% by 2027, to qualify for an EV tax credit under the IRA. Furthermore, miners producing vital materials will be eligible for tax credits equal to 10% of production costs, and the DOE has made a US$40 billion loan guarantee available to promote projects that increase the domestic supply of critical minerals.
Jindalee notes the recently concluded Australia-United States Climate, Critical Minerals, and Clean Energy Transformation Compact, which aims to ensure a responsible, sustainable, and reliable supply of critical minerals required for global energy transformation. The Board views the signing of the Compact as beneficial to businesses with activities and interests in both countries, such as Jindalee.
According to Jindalee, completing a PFS is the next natural stage in McDermitt Lithium Project’s growth. It is intended to promote meaningful negotiations with possible funders (both public and private sector), offtakers, and strategic partners.
Jindalee reported that Fluor had conducted a study of metallurgical testwork at McDermitt and discovered that acid leaching with beneficiation resulted in the lowest operating costs and the best financial results. The substantial Mineral Resource at McDermitt allows for development flexibility, possibly optimising mining and feeding high-quality ore early in the mine life.
The PFS, which will yield a capital and operational cost estimate with a +/-25% to 35% margin of error, is projected to be completed in the December Quarter 2023.
“I am delighted to announce the appointment of Fluor as lead engineer for the McDermitt PFS. McDermitt is a very large and potentially strategically important domestic source of lithium for the US battery industry. Fluor has assembled a team of highly credentialled engineers and metallurgists with extensive experience with US sediment hosted lithium deposits to work on the PFS, which we look forward to completing in late 2023,” Jindalee Chairman Justin Mannolini said.
