Alpha Lithium (TSXV: ALLI; US-OTC; ALLIF) has produced lab-scale quantities of lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate from its 100%-owned Tolillar Salar project in Argentina, about 170 km southeast of the city of Salta.
"While this is limited bench scale production, it showcases our strategic goal to achieve production and our proven ability to operate at an incredible pace in Argentina," Brad Nichol, Alpha Lithium's president and CEO, stated in a press release.
The Vancouver-based junior exploration and development company used an in-house direct lithium extraction (DLE) process to produce a lithium concentrate containing 9,474 milligrams lithium per litre from brine mined at Tolillar Salar.
Samples of the lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate have been sent to SGS Canada Inc., an inspection, verification, testing, and certification company, in Ontario, to determine their purity. A 2,000-litre brine concentrate also has been sent to Lilac Solutions Inc.'s laboratory in California, where large-scale Stage 1 testing using Lilac's patented lithium DLE technology will complement Alpha Lithium's in-house testing.
The company said the testing is part of the ongoing optimisation of the DLE process and will determine the most suitable lithium production process for brine produced from the Tolillar salar.
The 27,500-hectare property lies within the heart of South America's "lithium triangle," an area covering parts of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile, which holds more than half of the world's lithium deposits.
Tolillar Salar is 10 km northwest of Livent's (NYSE: LTHM) Fenix project, the largest and longest producing salar (salt flat) in Argentina and the source of one of the world's purest lithium brines.
At press time in Toronto, Alpha Lithium was trading at 72 ? per share within a 52-week trading range of 52 ? and $1.45. The company has about 119 million common shares outstanding for an $85.7 million market capitalization.