The Bandeira Lithium Project is an underground lithium mine being developed by its 100% owner Lithium Ionic, a Canadian mining company. The property is located in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.
Lithium Ionic commenced drilling activity at Bandeira in April 2022 and reported an initial mineral resource estimate in June 2023.
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In October 2023, the owner completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the lithium project. This was followed by the announcement of feasibility study (FS) results in May 2024.
The FS predicted a small footprint underground mining operation with a strong economic viability.
As per the FS, the project will have a Life of Mine (LOM) of 14 years. It would produce 178,000 tonnes per annum (ktpa) of spodumene concentrate (5.5% Lithium Oxide (Li2O)).
Total capital expenditure (CAPEX) is estimated to be $266m.
The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the project is expected to be completed in the second quarter (Q2) of 2024.
Bandeira Lithium Project is expected to receive Concomitant Environmental and Installation License (Licença Ambiental Concomitante) in Q3 of 2024.
The approval of LAC will make way for the construction of the project.
In May 2024, Lithium Ionic signed a binding term sheet agreement with Appian Capital Advisory to sell a 2.25% gross revenue royalty on the project for $20m. The proceeds will be used for the development of the project.
Bandeira Lithium Project Location Details
Bandeira Lithium Project is located in the Lithium Valley, in the northern region of Minas Gerais State, Brazil.
The project claims span 157 hectares (ha), representing about 1% of 14,182ha of Lithium Ionic’s land package.
The region is known for hosting lithium-bearing pegmatites, making it one of the most promising lithium-producing regions in the world.
The project site is accessible via major highways.
It is approximately 570km from the Ilhéus Port, Bahia. The port exports lithium concentrate to the international markets including Shanghai, China.
The project site is close to Araçuaí Municipality, providing it with necessary access to essential amenities and services.
Geology and Mineralisation
The geology of the Bandeira Lithium Project comprises sedimentary rocks of the Neoproterozoic age. These rocks are intruded by fertile lithium-bearing pegmatites.
The pegmatites originated due to magmatic fluids fractionation from Araçuaí Orogen’ peraluminous S-type post-tectonic granitoids.
Lithium mineralisation is associated with concordant and discordant groups of spodumene-bearing tabular pegmatites occurring in cordierite-biotite-quartz schists.
Bandeira Lithium Project Mineral Resource Estimate
Measured and indicated mineral resources are estimated to be 23.68 million tonnes (Mt) at an average grade of 1.34% Li₂O.
Inferred mineral resources of the project stand at 18.25Mt grading 1.37% Li₂O.
Mining and Ore Processing
The Bandeira Lithium Project will be mined using dual underground mining operations.
The primary ore bodies, which make up around 83% of the total deposit, will be mined using a bottom-up sublevel stoping method.
Room-and-pillar technique will be used to mine ores from the secondary southeast ore bodies, which contain approximately 0.98Mt of ore.
The ores will be processed in order to maximise the recovery and quality of lithium. The process flowsheet will include a two-stage crushing circuit consisting of a jaw crusher and a gyratory cone crusher.
The crushed ores will subsequently undergo dry screening classification resulting in coarse and mid-fraction ores. The ores will be then sorted and separated in a Dense Media Separation (DMS) circuit producing a final 5.5% SC5.5 Li2O spodumene concentrate.
Recovered ore from the mine is expected to have an average Li2O grade of 1.16% over the LOM. After processing, the overall Li2O recovery is projected to reach 68.9%.
Bandeira Project Infrastructure
In April 2024, the lithium project was awarded water rights from the Minas Gerais Institute of Water Management (Instituto Mineiro de Gestão das Águas, IGAM) to source water from the local Piaui River for the project requirements.
The project is authorised to use water at a flow rate of 101.6m3/hour.
Lithium Ionic, through its Brazilian subsidiary, MGLIT Empreendimentos (MGLIT), signed an agreement with Brazilian electricity distributor Cemig Distribuição in October 2023 to facilitate the construction and electrification of essential power infrastructure between the project and Cemig’s existing power grid.
The grid is located approximately 3km away from the project site. The power infrastructure will include 3km of new transmission lines and a new substation adjacent to the mine.
MGLIT will operate and maintain the electrical infrastructure downstream of the new substation.
Bandeira Lithium Project Contractors
Canada-based AtkinsRéalis (formerly SNC Lavalin) was engaged by Lithium Ionic to coordinate the 2023 FS of the project. This encompassed engineering, mine layout, process design, risk assessment, and logistics.
The mineral resources of the project were certified by consultant group GE21. It also conducted environmental studies, tailings disposal.
L&M Advisory validated the economic and financial model of the project.
