Business
Avalon Provides Separation Rapids Lithium Project Update
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 3, 2020) - Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. (TSX:...
About this update from Avalon Advanced Materials Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Avalon Provides Separation Rapids Lithium Project UpdateToronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 3, 2020) - Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. (TSX: AVL) (OTCQB: AVLNF) (\"Avalon\" or the \"Company\") is pleased to provide an update on its 2020 project development plans for the 100% owned Separation Rapids Lithium Project near Kenora, Ontario (the \"Project\"), where interest in the Company's lithium mineral products continues to grow. Avalon has now received the necessary approvals to proceed with the 2,500 tonne bulk sample extraction program that was originally planned for 2019. This includes acceptance for filing by the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Northern Development of the Company's revised Closure Plan for Advanced Exploration dated January 22, 2020.Avalon can now proceed this summer with the bulk sampling program for pilot plant processing to recover petalite product samples for testing and qualification by glass and ceramic companies that have expressed interest in the high-purity petalite mineral product. The Company is also re-visiting the potential to produce a lithium hydroxide battery product, as outlined in Avalon's 2016 Preliminary Economic Assessment, because of the new interest in establishing critical minerals supply chains in Ontario, particularly lithium battery materials. The Company is now reviewing potential sites for such a facility in northwestern Ontario.Recent WorkWhile there has been no recent activity at the Separation Rapids Project site, laboratory test work on archived sample material has been ongoing. This work has been focused on flowsheet optimization, to enable more efficient production of the specific types of petalite products that have been requested by various glass and ceramic manufacturers. The original flowsheet employed a flotation process designed to treat both the coarse grained and fine grained petalite ore types. However, the coarse grained petalite ore is also amenable to lower cost processing using ore-sorting and dense media separation (\"DMS\") to produce a clean concentrate that has not been exposed to flotation reagents. Recent test work has confirmed that this petalite product would be well-suited for certain glass-ceramic applications. The fine grained ore would be processed using a flotation process to make a petalite concentrate suitable for other glass and ceramic applica...