Overview

Mine Type	Open Pit & Underground
Stage	Construction
Commodities	Lithium Spodumene
Mining Method	Truck & Shovel / Loader Longhole stoping
Backfill type	...
Production Start	...
Mine Life	...
Snapshot	Nemaska 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.

Deposit type

• Pegmatite

Summary:

The Whabouchi deposit is a lithium-bearing rare metal pegmatite. Emplacement of rare metal pegmatites is the last phase of the crystallization of a parent granite pluton. Highpressure residual fluids, with abundant water, silica, alumina, alkalis, and rich in rare elements and other volatiles from the crystallization of a pluton at modest depth, concentrate in the cupola or upper domed contact of the granite as it crystallizes. Under increasing pressure, this fluid dilates fractures in overlying rocks in a manner analogous to that of hydraulics in mechanical equipment, thereby providing feeder channels for emplacement of pegmatites at shallower depth. Progressive crystallization of the main rock-forming minerals out of this fluid enriches the final fluids in rare metals and the process culminates in the formation of rare metal pegmatites still under fluid pressure. A variety of types occur depending on the abundance and type of rare metals associated with the pluton and the physico-chemical conditions affecting the sequence of emplacement events.

The mineralization of economic interest at the Whabouchi site is found in spodumenebearing
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 1.62 % Li2O with values up to 4.59 % Li2O.

Rare metal bearing pegmatites are normally found in moderately metamorphosed terranes near vast granitic plutons: a possible parental source for the pegmatitic magmas. Pegmatites are associated with granitic intrusions and are generally zoned around these intrusive centers. Pegmatites tend to be more enriched in volatile elements further away from the intrusive centers. Pegmatites are thought to be derived from primary crystallization of highly differentiated volatile enriched granitic magmas. The host rocks of the intrusion also play a significant role in the final composition of the pegmatites due to the incorporation of host rock in the magma during the intrusive process.

Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

Operational metrics

Personnel

Job Title	Name	Profile	Ref. Date
.......................	.......................		May 31, 2019
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