Bacanora Minerals subsidiary Deutsche Lithium has secured a mining licence for its Zinnwald lithium project located in southern Saxony, Germany.
The 30-year licence, covering 256.5ha, has been granted by the Saxony State Mining Authority.
The project is located in a granite hosted Sn/W/Li belt that was previously explored bygranite-hostedin search of tin, tungsten and lithium.
Based on recent testwork, it has been determined that the Zinnwald ores can be used to produce several downstream lithium products.
Bacanora Minerals CEO Peter Secker said: “The issue of the mining licence is a key milestone for Zinnwald where various workstreams for the feasibility study are well-advanced.
“In Zinnwald and Sonora, Bacanora has, in our view, two world-class assets, which have the potential to provide significant supplies of lithium products to the strategically important European and Asian lithium markets.”
Currently, a feasibility study is underway at the project to develop a strategy to evaluate the commercial viability of producing higher value downstream lithium products for the European battery and automotive sectors.
The study is scheduled to be completed in mid-2019.
As part of an infill drilling programme to upgrade the existing resource model, four out of 15 planned holes have been completed, while the remaining holes are expected to be finished by January next year.
Other works include collection of a 100t bulk ore sample from the legacy mine at Zinnwald to provide samples for metallurgical testwork.
Once the concentration testwork is complete, the company will carry out hydrometallurgical tests for downstream processing in an attempt to produce higher value lithium battery chemical products.
Bacanora has a 50% interest in the Zinnwald project, with an option to wholly own the project through the acquisition of the remaining stake.
Source: mining-technology
