Bacanora lithium gets environmental green light for Sonora project

A major lithium exploration company, which owns one of the largest lithium deposits in the world, moves a step closer following the granting of an environmental approval.

London and Canadian listed Bacanora has announced this week that it has received approval for its flagship Sonara Project in Mexico from the Environment Ministry of Mexico.

Sonora holds one of the world’s largest lithium resources and benefits from being both high grade and scalable. The project, which is located in an existing mining district and has excellent access to infrastructure, consists of 10 contiguous concessions covering 104,064 Ha and is located 190km NE of Hermosillo in northern Mexico.

Bacanora will significantly advance the development of Sonora as it looks to bring the project into production to satisfy expected strong growth in demand for lithium from fast growing sectors, such as electric vehicles and energy storage.

Sonora has an Indicated Mineral Resource established in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of 4.5 million tonnes LCE and 2.7 million tonnes Inferred and Probable Mineral Reserves  of 2.1 million tonnes LCE.
 

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Bacanora CEO Peter Secker said, "Government approval for the Environmental Impact Statement is the latest key requirement that is now in place at Sonora.  One-by-one we are checking off our checklist ahead of our goal of developing Sonora into a world class lithium operation.  Our work to date has already established Sonora as a large and scalable project; while our pilot plant at Sonora has been producing battery grade lithium carbonate on a continuous basis for the past eighteen months.  This has served to prove the detailed flow sheet and metallurgical process that will be deployed at the Project, and has also helped to secure Hanwa as both a strategic and off-take partner for up to 100% of production.

 "We are confident that Sonora remains on course to help meet expected strong growth in demand for lithium carbonate from fast-growing industries such as electric vehicles and battery storage.  I look forward to providing further updates on our progress, as we focus on transforming Bacanora into a producer of battery grade lithium carbonate."