BRISBANE, Australia, April 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE, TSX: ORL) (“Orocobre” or “the Company”) wishes to advise that Advantage Lithium Corp. ("Advantage Lithium") (TSX V: AAL) (AVLIF) as operator of the Cauchari JV has announced it will undertake a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) on the Cauchari JV project following the doubling of the mineral resource and successful conversion of Inferred Resources to Measured and Indicated categories (announced on 7 March 2019i). Orocobre owns 33.5% of Advantage Lithium’s issued capital and 25% directly in the joint venture.
Given the significant increase in resource size, the PFS will examine various alternatives to unlock additional value compared to the results from the 2018 Preliminary Economic Assessmentii. A key outcome of the PFS is expected to be the delivery of a mineral reserve backed by an economic analysis within a +/-25% accuracy demonstrating the viability of the project.
The PFS will consider all production alternatives and will select an optimal development path. The study will be completed to Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (CIMM) best practices and definitions as adopted in the NI43-101 Standards of Disclosure and the JORC code as required by the ASX.
Advantage Lithium expects to complete the PFS in Q3 CY19. Final proposals from independent qualified consultants are currently being reviewed with a PFS commencement date expected shortly.
i Please see News Release of 7 March 2019 “Advantage Lithium more than doubles the Cauchari Project resource in Argentina to 4.8 Mt LCE Measured + Indicated and 1.5 Mt Inferred”.
ii The Preliminary Economic Assessment released by Advantage Lithium (14 August 2018) was prepared in accordance with Canadian standards on the Cauchari Lithium project. Inferred resources were the basis of the subject study. Orocobre did not release the results of this study as the use of inferred resources does not comply with guidance provided by ASX and ASIC on the disclosure of information of this nature.