Lithium Australia Ltd (ASX:LIT, OTC:LMMFF) will use the A$1.3 million taken from its third drawdown from a A$4.5 million convertible note with Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN) (MinRes) to fund its demonstration plant engineering study which is being delivered by Carnac Project Delivery Services and ongoing piloting activities.
If piloting activities are successful, LIT will form a 50:50 joint venture with MinRes to own and commercialise the LieNA® technology through a licensing model.
LIT announced on March 19 that it had started piloting its LieNA® processing technology.
The LieNA® technology is a world-first processing technology to extract lithium from discarded mining waste and has previously been successfully tested at laboratory scale, with the current piloting program seeking to demonstrate the technology at a larger scale.
Under the current agreement, MinRes is funding LIT every quarter, with Lithium Australia so far drawing around A$3 million from the A$4.5 million convertible note.
Technologies to be licenced to third parties
Under the JV, Lithium Australia and MinRes are set to license the LieNA® technology to third parties, aiming for a gross product royalty rate of 8%.
The inaugural license is anticipated to be for a demonstration plant, likely owned and operated by MinRes.
Subsequent licenses are expected to be extended to greenfield and brownfield spodumene mines, both in Australia and internationally. Lithium Australia is optimistic about its ongoing partnership with MinRes, projecting promising outcomes from upcoming piloting activities and an engineering study slated for later this year.
“We are excited to announce the continued progress made with MinRes under our joint development agreement. The third drawdown follows the successful commencement of piloting in March 2024, demonstrating our commitment towards developing the LieNA® technology,” Lithium Australia CEO and managing director, Simon Linge said.
“Pending successful completion of the piloting activities and engineering study, we look forward to forming the JV between Lithium Australia and MinRes to license out the LieNA® technology. 2024 will be a formative year for Lithium Australia and we are excited to deliver further updates on our progress throughout the year.”