Stria Completes Proof of Principle Development of its Upstream Lithium Ore-to-Lithium Chloride Production Process
OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired - May 20, 2014) - Stria Lithium Inc., (TSX VENTURE:SRA) ("Stria" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the successful completion of its Phase 1 "proof of principle" development of a novel hard rock ore-to-lithium chloride process.Stria owns the Pontax spodumene and Willcox brine lithium properties in the James Bay region of Northern Quebec and southeastern Arizona, respectively.
On January 14, 2014, Stria announced its plans to introduce proprietary, on-site processing technologies that produce high purity lithium chloride directly from spodumene ore on an environmentally sustainable basis.
The potential benefits of the technologies is that they require less controls; less chemistry via the recycling of chemicals; require less energy due to energy recycling; reduce capital costs from the construction of smaller, compact processing facilities, and; the combination of a simple process and compact design enable easy automation.
"Stria is a technology lithium property developer with an eye to building a competitive advantage in an established global market by focusing on the introduction of cost-mitigating, upstream, environmentally sustainable processing capabilities," said Stria President and Chief Operating Officer Julien Davy.
"With the proof of principle phase completed, we have commenced our Phase 2 optimization of kinetics and recovery testing of our spodumene ore-to-lithium chloride process," Mr. Davy said.
"The engineering data derived from Phase 2 examinations and laboratory trials should form the bases for construction of a small scale pilot plant," Mr. Davy added.
Stria has embarked on a strategic, technology-oriented business path to develop a proprietary, upstream processing technology for the Pontax resource, and; to further refine an existing, proven brine processing technology for the Willcox project.
With Phase 1 mineralogical and metallurgical testing program now validated, Stria will embark on follow-up exploration programs at its 100% owned Pontax and Willcox properties in tandem with pilot plant testing.
The Company's aim is to position itself as a new, green technology source of technology lithium, an irreplaceable component for current and next-generation batteries.
Lithium metals today represent about 30% of global lithium consumption. By 2025, it is estimated that global consumption from the battery manufacturing sectors will account for some 65% of total global consumption.
About Stria Lithium Inc.
Stria Lithium (TSX VENTURE:SRA) owns the Pontax spodumene lithium property in Northern Quebec and the Willcox brine lithium property in Southeastern Arizona. As announced in January 2014, Stria is developing proprietary, in-house processing technologies for both projects with the purpose of reducing costs on an environmentally sustainable basis. Stria's technologies, based on recovering lithium metal directly from ore and from brine liquids, will be more efficient, will require fewer controls, less chemistry and require less energy from compact facilities designed to enable easy automation.
Forward Looking Statement - Disclaimer
This news release may contain forward-looking statements, being statements which are not historical facts, and discussions of future plans and objectives. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove accurate. Such statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those anticipated or projected. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are in our documents filed from time to time with the TSX Venture Exchange and provincial securities regulators, most of which are available at www.sedar.com
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contact
Stria Lithium Inc.
Mr. Julien Davy, President and Chief Operating Officer
jdavy@strialithium.com
