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United States
Thacker Pass Project

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 Location:
42 km SW from McDermitt, Nevada, United States

  Project Contacts:
3685 Lakeside Dr
Reno
Nevada, United States
89509
Phone  ...  Subscription required
WebsiteWeb
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Overview

StagePermitting
Mine TypeOpen Pit
Commodities
  • Lithium
Mining Method
  • Surface miner
Processing
  • Sulfuric acid (reagent)
  • Lithium Carbonate Plant
  • Agitated tank (VAT) leaching
Mine Life46 years (as of Jan 1, 2018)
Latest NewsLithium Americas Closes US$400 Million Underwritten Public Offering     January 22, 2021


Owners

Source: p. 29
CompanyInterestOwnership
Lithium Americas Corp. 100 % Indirect
Lithium Nevada Corp. 100 % Direct
Lithium Nevada Corp. (LNC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Lithium Americas Corp. (LAC), is advancing the Thacker Pass Project. The Project is 100% owned by LNC.

Deposit Type

  • Sediment-hosted


Summary:

The Thacker Pass Deposit sits sub-horizontally beneath a thin alluvial cover at Thacker Pass and is partially exposed at the surface. The Thacker Pass Deposit contains the targeted multi-phase mining development of the Thacker Pass Project. It lies at relatively low elevations (between 1,500 m and 1,300 m) in moat caldera lake sediments that have been separated from the topographically higher deposits to the north. Exposures of the sedimentary rocks at Thacker Pass are limited to a few drainages and isolated road cuts. Therefore, the stratigraphic sequence in the deposit is primarily derived from core drilling.

The sedimentary section, which has a maximum drilled thickness of about 160 m, consists of alternating layers of thick claystone and thin volcanic ash. The claystone comprises 40% to 90% of the section. In many intervals, the claystone and ash are intimately intermixed. The claystones are variably brown, tan, gray, bluish-gray and black, whereas the ash is generally white or very light gray. Individual claystone-rich units may laterally reach distances of more than 152 m; though unit thickness can vary by as much as 20%. Ash-rich layers are more variable and appear to have some textures that suggest reworking. All units exhibit finely graded bedding and laminar textures that imply a shallow lacustrine (lake) depositional environment.

Surficial oxidation persists to depths of 15 m to 30 m in the moat sedimentary rock. Oxidized claystone is brown, tan, or light greenish-tan and contains iron oxide, whereas ash is white with some orange-brown iron oxide. The transition from oxidized to unoxidized rock occurs over intervals as much as 4.5 m thick.

The moat sedimentary section at Thacker Pass overlies the intra-caldera Tuff of Long Ridge. A zone of weakly to strongly silicified sedimentary rock, the Hot Pond Zone (HPZ), occurs at the base of the sedimentary section above the Tuff of Long Ridge in most of the cores retrieved from the Thacker Pass Deposit. Both the HPZ and the underlying Tuff of Long Ridge are generally oxidized.

Lithium enrichment in the Thacker Pass Deposit and deposits of the Montana Mountains occur in the lowest portions of the caldera lake sedimentary sequence, just above the intra-caldera Tuff of Long Ridge. The uplift of the Montana Mountains during both caldera resurgence and Basin and Range faulting led to increased rates of weathering and erosion of a large volume of caldera lake sediments. As a result, the deposits of the Montana Mountains have minimal overburden and the Li-enriched interval occurs close to the surface. Along the southern and eastern margins of the Montana Mountains, caldera lake sediments dip slightly away from the center of resurgence.

Dips on the sediments in the vicinity of the Thacker Pass Deposit were slightly restored during the collapse event associated with the Tuff of Thacker Creek; most of the sediments within this deposit are sub-horizontal. Because of the lower elevations in Thacker Pass, a smaller volume of the overburden eroded south of the Montana Mountains. As a result, the amount of overburden increases with distance from the Montana Mountains. The proposed pit mining activity is concentrated along the southern margin of the Montana Mountains in Thacker Pass where lithium enrichment is close to the surface with minimal overburden.


Mining Methods

  • Surface miner


Summary:

The shallow and massive nature of the deposit makes it amenable to open pit mining methods. The mining method chosen is a modified panel mining method which employs excavators and surface miners. In this method, a section along the length of the pit is mined to the entire width and depth before moving to the next section of the pit. The ore body is perfectly set up for this as it is massive and the floor is fairly consistent.

Waste removal will be done by means of an excavator and haul truck operation. Once the ore has been exposed and a running surface prepared to a relatively consistent profile, the excavator will move to the next panel section. Following the waste removal, the surface miner will mine the exposed ore and load the haul trucks directly.

The ore will be hauled to the head of an overland ore conveyor or to nearby short-term stockpiles. A front-end-loader will be used for any rehandling of ore and for managing the short-term stockpiles.

During the first year of pre-production, mine waste will be hauled to the plant site to be used for construction fill material and will also be used to construct the tailings embankment. During the second year of preproduction, mine waste continues to be used for construction with any excess mine waste hauled directly to the waste dump. The waste dump has been designed to accommodate sufficient material such that when it is complete the remaining waste mined for the life of the mine can be backfilled directly into the mined-out pits, less any that is used for subsequent tailing embankment construction.

Due to the sequence of mining, the majority of in- pit ramps will be temporary, and some will be built on backfill. Exposure to final pit walls will also be temporary.

A bench height of 5 m was chosen to limit dilution. Double benching was included to increase the bench widths while still maintaining the inter-ramp slope requirements.

Three (3) geotechnical zones were included in the pit design. A delineation between soil and bedrock occurs around 30 m depth. The inter-ramp angle for the soil is 25 degrees for all areas of the pit. For total pit wall depths less than 90 m, the bedrock slope is 47 degrees. Areas of the pit with wall depths between 90 m and 120 m have a bedrock inter-ramp angle of 39 degrees.


Crushing and Grinding


Processing

  • Sulfuric acid (reagent)
  • Lithium Carbonate Plant
  • Agitated tank (VAT) leaching

Flow Sheet: Subscription required

Summary:

The recovery process consists of the following major components:
i) Ore preparation and leaching and
ii) lithium processing.

The Ore Preparation will prime the ore for lithium extraction in a leaching circuit. Ore will be delivered to the run of mine (“ROM”) stockpile from the mining operation. The ore in the ROM stockpile will be sized using toothed roll crusher (sizer) to optimize the efficiency of leaching lithium.

The ore will be transferred from ROM by reclaim feeders to a toothed roll crusher for size reduction prior to being mixed with filter wash solution in attrition scrubbers. The clay will readily disengage from coarse gangue size fraction during scrubbing. The gangue (defined as screen oversize material) will be transferred to the clay tailings facility for storage and reclamation.

After Ore Preparation, the ore will be transferred as a slurry to the Leaching circuit. Sulfuric acid will be mixed in with the slurry to liberate th ........

Recoveries & Grades:

CommodityParameterAvg. LOM
Lithium Recovery Rate, %  ......  Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Projected Production:

CommodityProductUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
Sulphuric acid t 442,70520,364,430
Lithium Carbonate t  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required

Operational Metrics:

Metrics
Stripping / waste ratio 1.6 *
Daily ore mining rate 13,062 t *
Waste tonnes, LOM 330.4 Mt *
Ore tonnes mined, LOM 179.4 Mt *
Total tonnes mined, LOM 509.8 Mt *
Annual production capacity 60,000 t of lithium carbonate *
* According to 2018 study.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Reserves at August 1, 2018:

CategoryTonnage CommodityGradeContained Metal
Proven 133,944 kt Lithium 3308 g/t
Proven 133,944 kt LCE 2,358 kt
Probable 45,478 kt Lithium 3210 g/t
Probable 45,478 kt LCE 777 kt
Proven & Probable 179,422 kt Lithium 3283 g/t
Proven & Probable 179,422 kt LCE 3,135 kt
Measured 242,150 kt Lithium 2948 g/t
Measured 242,150 kt LCE 3,800 kt
Indicated 143,110 kt Lithium 2864 g/t
Indicated 143,110 kt LCE 2,182 kt
Measured & Indicated 385,260 kt Lithium 2917 g/t
Measured & Indicated 385,260 kt LCE 5,982 kt
Inferred 147,440 kt Lithium 2932 g/t
Inferred 147,440 kt LCE 2,301 kt

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnitsAverage
Cash costs Li2CO3 USD 4,088 / t *
Cash costs Li2CO3 USD 2,570 / t *†
Assumed price Li2CO3 USD 12,000 / t *
Assumed price Sulphuric acid USD 90 / t *
* According to 2018 study / presentation.
† Net of By-Product.

Operating Costs:

Units2018
OP mining costs ($/t milled) USD 7 *
Processing costs ($/t milled) USD  ......  Subscription required
Total operating costs ($/t milled) USD  ......  Subscription required
* According to 2018 study.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

2018 Study Costs and Valuation Metrics :

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Initial CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Sustaining CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
OP OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Processing OpEx $M USD 8,923
G&A costs $M USD 407.5
Total OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Gross revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscription required
After-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscription required
After-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Proposed Heavy Mobile Equipment as of August 1, 2018:
HME TypeSizeQuantity
Crane 60 t 1
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required 5
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required 2
....................... Subscription required 2
....................... Subscription required 1
....................... Subscription required 1
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required 28
....................... Subscription required 1
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 28, 2020
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 28, 2020
Subscription required - Subscription is required.


Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Pre-Feasibility Study Report 2018
Press Release 2018
Technical Report 2018
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

News:

NewsDate
Lithium Americas Closes US$400 Million Underwritten Public Offering January 22, 2021
Lithium Americas Receives Record of Decision for Thacker Pass January 15, 2021
Lithium Americas announces Final Environmental Impact Statement filed for the Thacker Pass Project December 4, 2020
Lithium Americas Provides Update on the Thacker Pass Lithium Project September 25, 2019
Lithium Americas Files Technical Report for the Thacker Pass Pre-Feasibility Study August 3, 2018
Lithium Americas Announces Preliminary Feasibility Study Results for the Thacker Pass Project June 21, 2018

Aerial view:

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