Indigo Engages Industry-Leading DLE Provider for Initial Lithium Brine Recovery Tests
Vancouver, June 20, 2023 - Indigo Exploration Inc. (TSXV: IXI) (OTCQB: IXIXF) (FSE: INEN) (the "Company") is pleased to announce the selection of Sunresin New Materials ("Sunresin") to conduct initial Direct Lithium Extraction ("DLE") recovery tests for the Company's petro-lithium brines. Approximately 150 litres of brine will be collected from each project area, namely the Fox Creek East and Fox Creek West (collectively the "Fox Creek Project"), and shipped to Sunresin's facilities located in Xi'an, China, for recovery tests under the supervision of Company representatives. Sunresin offers a proprietary, end-to-end solution for the processing of brine to finished products (lithium carbonate [Li2CO3] and lithium hydroxide [LiOH]) with over a decade of experience and successfully executed nine commercial DLE contracts representing over 73,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent. Due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts with the various contractors, the Fox Creek sampling program is now scheduled to commence June 26.
"With significant investments made into the field of direct lithium extraction combined with the plethora of available off-the-shelf solutions in the marketplace, we are focusing our efforts on exploration and development without the added distraction of trying to reinvent a proprietary DLE solution," commented Paul Cowley, CEO and Director of Indigo Exploration. "Our in-house metallurgical advisory board has identified Sunresin as one of the leading end-to-end EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) providers in the market. In order to deliver the most representative results from their DLE process and expedite the advancement of our project timelines, we will be using a sizable 300 litre sample of brine collected from the Fox Creek Project as opposed to a synthetic sample of a much smaller quantity. Our team believes this will provide us with the best quality, real-world data on the process and recovery characteristics."
About Sunresin New Materials Co., Ltd.
Sunresin New Materials Co., Ltd. is a key player in the DLE (Direct Lithium Extraction) market, focusing on providing advanced solutions for lithium extraction and purification. They specialize in the development of high-performance ion exchange resins tailored for DLE applications. These resins efficiently extract lithium ions from brine or other sources, offering a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to traditional mining and evaporation methods. Sunresin's DLE resins are known for their outstanding performance, stability, and durability, making them ideal for large-scale lithium extraction projects. The company collaborates with industry partners to customize solutions and optimize the efficiency of the extraction process, catering to the increasing demand for lithium in electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy storage systems.
Sunresin has three commercial deployments including Lanke Lithium (20,000 tpa of LCE), Zangge Lithium (20,000 tpa of LCE) and Jintai Lithium (7,000 tpa of LCE), in addition to numerous projects and partnerships at the evaluation, pilot and development-stage in South America, Australia, North America, and Asia.
About Indigo's Metallurgical Advisory Board
Indigo Exploration is working with Dr.'s Gary Kordosky and David Dreisinger as Advisors to advance the testing and development of Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) for its Alberta lithium brines. Dr. Kordosky worked throughout his career on solvent extraction technologies with Henkel, Cognis, and BASF corporation. He began to investigate lithium solvent extraction over 20 years ago and brings a deep experience in solvent extraction chemistry and industrial process design to help Indigo. Dr. Dreisinger is a Professor and Chair of Hydrometallurgy at the University of British Columbia with general background in metal separation and recovery using ion exchange, solvent extraction, adsorption and membranes. Together with his students and industrial partners, he has researched various DLE technologies for more concentrated brine solutions such as those found in the salars of the South American lithium triangle.
About Indigo Exploration
Indigo Exploration is an emerging petro-lithium brine explorer with 147,904 hectares of Metallic and Industrial Minerals permits in Central Alberta, Canada. The Company's three primary lithium projects are the Fox Creek (114,522 hectares), Leduc (23,488 hectares) and Peace River (10,048 hectares) which are located within the heart of lithium exploration and development in Western Canada. The Company also owns the Hantoukoura Gold Permit in Burkina Faso which covers 23,800 hectares within the prospective Fada N'Gourma greenstone belt.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
"Paul Cowley",
President and CEO
For further information, please contact: Paul Cowley: (604) 340-7711
Website: www.indigoexploration.com
Dr. David Dreisinger, PEng., and Metallurgical Advisor to Indigo Exploration Inc., is the Qualified Person as defined in
National Instrument 43-101, who has read and approved the technical content of this news release.
This news release includes certain forward-looking statements as well as management's objectives, strategies, beliefs and intentions. Forward-looking statements are frequently identified by such words as "may", "will", "plan", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend" and similar words referring to future events and results. Forward-looking statements are based on the current opinions and expectations of management. All forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and subject to a variety of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, fluctuating commodity prices, competitive risks and the availability of financing, as described in more detail in our recent securities filings available at www.sedar.com. Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements and we caution against placing undue reliance thereon. We assume no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements except as required by applicable law.
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