Calgary, Alberta (FSCwire) - BACANORA MINERALS LTD. ("Bacanora" or the "Company") (TSX-V: BCN and AIM: BCN), the Canadian and London listed lithium exploration and development company, is pleased to announce that access and surface rights have been secured for its flagship Sonora Project ("Sonora" or the "Project") in Mexico. This is in line with the Company's strategy to construct an open-pit mine and large-scale beneficiation processing facility at Sonora, which is one of the world's larger deposits. A Feasibility Study ("FS") for a 35,000 tonnes per annum lithium carbonate operation at Sonora is on course for completion in late 2017.
The access and surface rights mainly relate to the land area covering mineral resources contained within the La Ventana, Fleur and El Sauz areas. Bacanora has entered into binding agreements to acquire the freehold to two parcels of land which, following completion of the FS, will provide the Company with unrestricted access to develop the Project and operate it for the initial life of mine. The Sonora Lithium Project consists of ten contiguous concessions covering 97,389 hectares approximately 190 kilometres northeast of the city of Hermosillo in Sonora State, Mexico and 200 kilometres south of the border with Arizona, USA.
Significant progress has been made towards the completing the FS by the end of 2017. The mass balances, energy balances and detailed flow sheets have now been completed. All of the vendor quotes for the supply of equipment have been received and are being evaluated. Reagent and chemical supply pricing has been received. Final quotes for the long-term energy supply are being evaluated. Over the next few weeks the final operating and capital costs will be developed in order to complete the FS.
The pilot plant in Hermosillo continues to operate to produce battery grade lithium carbonate product samples and the Company receives ongoing feedback from future customers in Asia and Europe regarding the quality of the product. The Company continues to focus on the high quality of Sonora lithium carbonate products as being a strong differentiator from other new lithium projects. Battery grade quality becomes more important for both increasing the range of electric vehicles and extending battery life in the current push to develop longer lasting lithium batteries.
Bacanora CEO Peter Secker said, "Securing access and surface rights for the large and scalable Sonora Project represents another major milestone towards delivering on our objective to develop a world class lithium mining operation at Sonora. Today's news closely follows the recent Sonora Government Environmental Approval for the Sonora Lithium Project."
ABOUT BACANORA:
Bacanora is a Canadian and London listed lithium exploration and development company (TSX-V: BCN and AIM: BCN). The Company is exploring for, and developing a pipeline of international lithium projects, with a primary focus on the Sonora Lithium Project. The Company's operations are based in Hermosillo in northern Mexico. The Company is led by a team with lithium expertise and proven mine development, construction and operations experience.
The Sonora Lithium Project, which consists of ten mining concession areas covering approximately 100 thousand hectares in the northeast of Sonora State. The Company, through drilling and exploration work to date, has established an Indicated Mineral Resource (in accordance with NI-43-101) of 4.5 million tonnes (LCE[1]) and 2.7 million tonnes Inferred[2]. A Pre-Feasibility Study completed in Q1 2016[3] established Probable Mineral Reserve (in accordance with NI 43-101) of 2.1 million tonnes LCE and demonstrated the economics associated with becoming a 35,000 tpa lithium carbonate and 50,000 tpa SOP producer in Mexico.
In addition to the Sonora Lithium Project, the Company also has a 50% interest in the Zinnwald Lithium Project in southern Saxony, Germany. The Zinnwald Lithium Project is located in a granite hosted Sn/W/Li belt that has been mined historically for tin, tungsten and lithium at different times over the past 300 years. The strategic location of the Zinnwald Lithium Project allows immediate access to the German automotive and downstream lithium chemical industries.
