First Phosphate (CSE:PHOS; FSE:KD0) has completed the commissioning of the pilot plant to produce phosphate concentrate using solventless, environmentally friendly extraction methods. The plant is located at the facilities of SGS Canada in Quebec City.
The concentrate produced will be used in the formulation of battery-grade purified phosphoric acid for use in the manufacture of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode material for the North American battery industry.
Earlier bench tests recovered 91.4% of the phosphate-bearing apatite to a concentrate containing 40.2% phosphate (P2O5). The pilot plant will treat a 15-tonne bulk sample that assayed 7.6% phosphate and 6.9% titanium dioxide. The pilot plant has produced over 900 kg of apatite concentrate which have been sent to the facilities of Prayon SA in Belgium for the production of battery-grade purified phosphoric acid. The battery-grade acid will then be sent to company partners for use in their LFP cathode active material production processes.
First Phosphate is drilling its Bégin-Lamarche property in the region of Saguenay-Lac-St Jean, Que. Two main zones with open pit potential have been drilled. The Northern zone consists of four main layers of at least 375 metres long and which average at least 60 metres in thickness. It is open in all directions. The Southern zone has at least two layers up to 1,500 metres long, averaging 100 metres thick. Both zones have been drilled to a depth of at least 200 metres, and they are found within a larger 2,500-metre strike zone.
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