Hi there. My opinion on Lepidolite has not changed whatsoever.
The pilot plant produced from memory about 6KG.
That is one hell of a long way away from producing in a commercially viable manner assuming that is possible at all.
I speak directly to the Chinese about Lepidolite. It is their arch enemy. They were producing from Lepidolite in volume before anyone and are the experts........... and they hate it.
My answer on processing lithium from Lepidolite is this. First I think the Chinese probably have just as good technology. If they do not then they would simply knock it off. They have ample mica in China and bucket loads in Africa. It would be the end of my investment in lithium. The fact that they are the experts in processing hard rock and still hate Lepidolite tells the story. imo it is likely to be a dead horse. Either ineffectual on a large scale or not financially viable. There are rumours of new processes in China. I think I know where the tech has come from and it is supposedly impressive. Will try to find more if I can.
As ozblue has eluded too there is a lot more to this than most people understand. This is production of an industrial mineral, not a simple gold production. There are such things as iron content, grain size, mica content etc that have a big impact on suitability. From my discussions there are also safety issues that can be impacted by the resource. That may have not been an issue in the past but sure as hell will be in the future.
I still think Pilgangoora is excellent and ticks all the boxes. Africa has been heavy in Mica in the past. The Canadian deposits I think will come into it but I expect more expensive than Pilgangoora and so would need a concentrate price around US 800-1000. I think we are at around $800 now but that's not to say it will hold. I think it will.
Anyway all imo and time will tell.
AJM Price at posting:
12.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
