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Whabouchi Project

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit & Underground
StageConstruction
Commodities
  • Lithium
  • Spodumene
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
  • Longhole stoping
  • Longitudinal stoping
  • Avoca
  • Transverse stoping
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Production Start... Lock
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SnapshotNemaska Lithium is a fully integrated spodumene to lithium hydroxide development project in Québec that is strategically located to serve the growing lithium demands of North America and Europe.

Nemaska Lithium comprises two integrated development projects: the Whabouchi mine and the Bécancour lithium hydroxide plant. Whabouchi is expected to produce the spodumene concentrate that will serve as the feedstock for lithium hydroxide capacity at Bécancour.

Whabouchi is One of the largest hard rock lithium deposits in the world which allows easy extraction and processing to provide a consistent concentrated spodumene to the conversion facility.

The mine is partially constructed, and work will be completed in time for the commissioning of the processing plant.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Investissement Quebec Inc. 50 % Indirect
Arcadium Lithium plc 50 % Indirect
On June 6, 2022, Livent Corp. closed on the Transaction Agreement and Plan of Merger with The Pallinghurst Group to provide Livent with a direct 50% ownership interest in the Nemaska Project.

On January 4, 2024, Allkem Ltd. and Livent Corp. officially completed their merger to become Arcadium Lithium.

The Canadian government, through Investissement Québec (“IQ”), will continue to own the remaining 50% interest in the Nemaska Project.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Pegmatite

Summary:

The Whabouchi Property is located in the Lac des Montagnes volcano-sedimentary formation and sits between the Champion Lake granitoids and orthogneiss and the Opatica Northeast, which comprises orthogneiss and undifferentiated granitoids. From the northwest to the southeast, the Property is underlain by the Champion Lake granitoids, a grey oligoclase gneiss and then by the Lac des Montagnes formation.

The Lac des Montagnes belt is approximately 7 km wide in the area, oriented northeast, and is principally composed of metasediments (quartz-rich paragneiss, biotite-sillimanite-staurolite schist and garnet-bearing schist) and amphibolites (mafic and ultramafic metavolcanics). These rocks are strongly deformed and cut by late granitoids (leucogranites and biotite-bearing white pegmatites) (Valiquette, 1975).

At the property level, the geology consists of a volcano-sedimentary assemblage metamorphosed to the amphibolite level. The volcanic rocks mostly comprise basalt-andesite rocks and gabbro formation. The primary textures are not identifiable, and no geochemistry data enables to correctly identify the rock types. The sedimentary units range from meta-conglomerates with elongated clasts to fine grained sedimentary units.

The volcano-sedimentary sequence is intruded by different bodies of granites and pegmatites with varying composition and probably age (no age constraints are available on the local intrusive bodies). The granites vary in texture and composition, from white and pink granite fine-grained granites to grey hornblende-oligoclase granite with phenocryst of pink microcline.

The pegmatite bodies form a swarm of interconnecting dykes and plug shaped intrusions. The Whabouchi dyke swarm comprises the Main dyke and a series of subsidiary dykes, like the Doris zone. The dykes vary in orientation from N055° to N070° and are steeply dipping towards the southeast (Main zone) and northeast (Doris). In cross sections, some of the dykes have different dip orientation and potentially connect to other dykes at depth. The corridor occupied by this dyke swarms as been recognized on a strike length of 1,340 m with a width ranging from 60 m to 330 m.

Mineralization
The regional prospecting done in the region over the years highlighted a potential for precious and base metal deposits. Cu, Zn, and Au lithogeochemical anomalies are found in the region, which is consistent with the volcano-sedimentary setting of this region.

The mineralization of economic interest at the Whabouchi site is found in spodumene-bearing rare metal bearing pegmatite dyke complexes. Spodumene is a lithium-bearing mineral, which contains 8% Li2O when pure. Spodumene also contains minor amounts of niobium and tantalum. Assays for spodumene normally range between 7.6% and 8.0% Li2O depending on the degree of replacement by Na2O. Typically, the Whabouchi pegmatite sampled from drill core averages 1.42% Li2O with values up to 5.19% Li2O. Recent mineralogical assessment shows minor amount of other Li-bearing minerals, such as petalite, muscovite, ferrisicklerite, cookeite, and holmquistite.

Two distinct phases are observed in the Whabouchi pegmatites: a spodumene-bearing phase comprising most of the pegmatite material and a lesser, white to pink barren quartz-feldspar pegmatite. The lithium mineralization occurs mainly in medium to large spodumene crystals (up to 30 cm in size) but petalite also occurs, averaging approximately 2.3% in the deposit (petalite contains approximately 4.5% Li2O). Muscovite also contains minor lithium and averages less than 2% in the deposit. Petalite and muscovite are not recoverable by the mineral processing method discussed in the present Report.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

CommodityProductUnitsDailyAvg. AnnualLOM
Spodumene Concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe2277,605

Operational metrics

Metrics
Daily processing rate  ....  Subscribe
Annual mining rate  ....  Subscribe
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe
Annual processing rate  ....  Subscribe
Waste tonnes, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Ore tonnes mined, LOM  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2022 study.

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage
Cash costs Spodumene CAD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2022 study / presentation. concentrate

Operating Costs

Currency2022
Total operating costs ($/t milled) CAD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2022 study.

Project Costs

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Initial CapEx $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Sustaining CapEx $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Closure costs $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Total OpEx $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Gross revenue (LOM) $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 10% $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 8% $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 10% $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 8% $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscribe
After-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscribe
After-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscribe

Required Heavy Mobile Equipment

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EV - Electric

Personnel

Mine Management

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Aerial view:

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