Lithium Americas completes milestone engineering tests to advance Cauchari-Olaroz

Toronto-based Lithium Americas Corp. (TSE:LAC)(OTCQX:LHMAF) said Monday that it has made significant progress with the development of its Cauchari-Olaroz lithium project in Argentina, having completed a number of critical engineering tests since the release of its preliminary economic assessment (PEA) in April.
"The PEA identified numerous initiatives for us to pursue in order to be in a position to complete a definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) prior to a production decision," said president and CEO of the company, Dr. Waldo A. Perez.
"We have successfully completed several key engineering milestones that will allow us to finalize our brine processing route and to complete our DFS."
The company has a staff of six full-time engineers working on the engineering process as it works to complete its definitive feasibility study for the lithium brine project.
So far, Lithium Americas has completed bench scale tests, a full cycle of evaporation from its industrial-scale ponds, an expansion of its laboratory, and a thermodynamic model to allow it to predict the brine processing route.
The company’s Cauchari-Olaroz Lithium project comprises a significant portion of two adjacent Argentinean salt lakes, Cauchari and Olaroz, covering 82,498 hectares located in the “Lithium Triangle” region of South America.
This region contains over 80% of the world’s lithium brine reserves, and an independent ranking said Lithium Americas' property was the third largest known lithium brine resource in the world.
Information from the company's bench scale tests were used to design the company's lithium carbonate pilot plant, which is currently being constructed and is expected to become operational in the fourth quarter. Production from the plant is estimated to be roughly 30 kilograms of 99.5% purity lithium carbonate per day, to be used for industrial samples to potential customers for qualification purposes, Lithium Americas said.
The preliminary economic assessment in April provided for a 40,000 tonne per year lithium carbonate production facility built in two phase of 20,000 tonnes per year, with construction expected to begin in 2012.
The 180-day full cycle of evaporation the company completed from its industrial scale ponds was in line with estimates provided in the PEA, it said, producing 15 tonnes of concentrated lithium brine, which will be processed in the pilot plant in the fourth quarter. Lithium Americas will therefore continue producing concentrated brine through this process to feed the plant.
Meanwhile, the completion of the thermodynamic model allows the company to predict the brine processing route - from brine extraction at the wells to the evaporation ponds, through the evaporation cycle and finally to the lithium carbonate processing plant.
The model reconstructs the changes to the brine throughout the process route at different chemical and physical parameters, including weather, interaction with reagents, and time, for example, optimizing the design.
Lithium Americas has also finished an expansion of its on-site laboratory, which is now able to analyze 50 full samples a day for lithium, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, boron, sulphates and chlorides.
The PEA, which did not include potential additional value of potash or boric acid production, estimated capital costs of US$217 million for the first phase, and cash operating costs of $1,434 per tonne, believed to be one of the lowest in the industry. The project was estimated to have an after-tax net present value of a whopping US$715 million, at an 8% discount rate.
Mitsubishi Corp and Magna International are shareholders of the company, in addition to them both having off-take arrangements with Lithium Americas.