Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX:SYA) has received results from the third phase of metallurgical testing at its flagship Authier Lithium Project in Quebec, Canada.
Testing has demonstrated that unprocessed water from the project site can be utilised on a raw untreated basis.
Using the unprocessed water, flotation recoveries of over 80% and concentrate grades of greater than 6% lithium oxide were achieved.
READ: Sayona Mining commences drilling to complete DFS
A new diamond drilling program is underway and will provide drill core to be used on a pilot scale metallurgical testing program expected to commence in December.
The drilling and pilot metallurgy programs will be the last major work programs before completion of the definitive feasibility study (DFS) in early 2018.
Samples used in testing represent life-of-mine mineralogy
The objective of phase III metallurgical testing was to assess flotation performance with Authier project site water.
The new metallurgical testing program was undertaken with a new representative sample of the Authier deposit from drill core.
Importantly, the new sample represents the average grade and expected mineralogy of the deposit over the life-of-mine.
Phase III results support phase II results
The phase III program generated four samples, two using tap water and two using Authier site water.
Two tap water samples tested produced concentrate grades of 6.30% and 6.03% lithium oxide for 74% and 81% recoveries respectively.
The two site water samples tested produced concentrate grades of 6.10% and 5.95% lithium oxide with both samples recording an 80% recovery.
READ: Sayona Mining's successful lithium testwork to feed into updated PFS at Authier
The objective of the metallurgical programs is to improve on the February 2017 pre-feasibility study assumptions of a 5.75% concentrate at 80% metallurgical recovery.
Earlier this month Sayona signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with leading China-based battery manufacturer, Huan Changyuan Lico Co Ltd.
Huan Changyuan, a subsidiary of the Fortune 500 company, China Minmetals Group, is a battery research, development, and production company.