Grounded Lithium Announces $4.5 Million Budget Funded by Denison Mines for Kindersley Lithium Project

3 weeks ago

3 minutes read

Grounded Lithium Corp. has announced an approved budget for the Kindersley Lithium Project developed in collaboration with Denison Mines Corp which advances various activities to June 2025. The Budget reflects the estimated costs associated with the next stage of rigorous technical de-risking of the KLP expected to conclude with the completion and filing of a pre-feasibility study for a commercial battery grade lithium operation.

The Budget totals CAD$4.5 million. Pursuant to the Earn-in Agreement dated January 15, 2024, entered into with Denison earlier this year, the full cost of the Budget will be funded by Denison and is comprised of the following major components:

Development of NI-43-101 compliant PFS report;
Further delineation of the resource base through additional drilling and sampling of multiple reservoir layers within the Leduc/Duperow sequence;
Additional brine production for secure storage and extensive testing in various pre-filtering and extraction technologies to assess the optimal technology and metallurgical process for application at the KLP. Planned trade-off studies will determine the optimum integration of technologies for the production of battery grade lithium, and will include:
- Analysis of direct lithium extraction either by adsorption or ion-exchange; and
- Processes for concentrating the eluate to a final product
Creation of an extensive depletion and recovery model to support economic analysis and optimize reservoir development.

The majority of the Budget’s cost supports the geological and engineering activities that advance the commercial potential of the KLP. Minor amounts are allocated to certain regulatory matters, internal administration and compliance costs.

Denison and the Company have commenced a request for proposal process with leading engineering service firms to author an independent PFS in accordance with National Instrument 43-101. The PFS will further de-risk and analyze the technical and economic feasibility of the KLP and builds on the preliminary economic assessment completed in 2023. As part of the RFP process, leading candidates recommended the completion of extensive metallurgical lab pilot test work to facilitate a comparison between several different extraction technologies as a necessary step to complete a PFS. Based on this process and the recommendations contained within the PFS, a future field pilot test may be designed, constructed, and operated for a sufficient period of time to support the further advancement of the KLP.

“These exciting next steps with our technical and financial partner, Denison, represent a significant step in the advancement of the KLP, focusing on developing a deeper understanding of the resource and its potential economics,” commented Gregg Smith, President & CEO. “The KLP benefits from a comparatively shallow position to access such high-quality resource in a relatively clean brine with few hydrocarbons and other deleterious minerals which is expected to support cost savings due to our minimal prefiltering. Our collaborative stepwise budget developed over the last eight months creates value for both respective shareholder bases as we progress forward with our next field efforts and reservoir analysis initiatives towards a thoroughly considered and rigorous PFS.”

Earn In Agreement Impact

Pursuant to the Agreement, Denison holds an option to earn a working interest in the KLP by sole funding project expenditures. Should Denison fund CAD$2.2 million of project expenditures, it will have fulfilled its Phase 1 conditions and earned a 30% in the KLP. Upon completion of this Budget, Denison will have incurred in excess of CAD$5.0 million, inclusive of pre-Budget expenditures to date, of the CAD$6.0 million cumulative project expenditures required to complete Phase 2 of the Agreement. Should additional expenditures follow post this Budget, subsequent phases may be ‘earned’ into by Denison. As disclosed in our press release dated January 16, 2024, the Agreement is comprised of the following phases/stages:

In order to complete Phase 2, Denison is required to remit a cash payment of CAD$850,000 to the Company, which would enhance our liquidity and financial flexibility through 2025.

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