Frontier Lithium successfully produces rare 7.2% Li2O "Technical Grade" Spodumene Concentrate with "Life of Mine" sample

SUDBURY, ON, May 4, 2020 /CNW/ - Frontier Lithium Inc. (TSX.V: FL) (the "Company" or "Frontier") is pleased to report positive metallurgical results from the PAK deposit composite sample of ore, which is a rare, high grade spodumene deposit with low inherent iron, located in the Great Lakes region of northwestern Ontario. The test work was carried out on a 400 kg sample targeting a mineralogically representative "life of mine" master composite sample. The sample was assembled with the objective of finalizing flowsheet design and to also confirm with a global user of concentrates the suitability of the material to meet the most rigorous specifications of the global lithium market. The metallurgical evaluation was undertaken by XPS Expert Process Solutions ("XPS"), a Glencore company, based in Falconbridge, Ontario, Canada.

"This significant accomplishment is a critical milestone that greatly de-risks the PAK Lithium Project and further enhances confidence for our company, partners and prospective customers," said Trevor Walker, President and CEO of Frontier Lithium. "The potential to produce high-quality lithium concentrates from a deposit in its entirety and not just from select zones is a characteristic possessed by very few lithium resources around the globe. These results meet expectations from the global industrial premium glass makers requiring rare technical grade spodumene concentrates. Results consequently exceed chemical grade concentrate requirements for further refining to produce chemicals like lithium hydroxide for the lithium-ion battery market.  This is a timely development for Frontier Lithium as North American glass and battery markets are seeking a large, reliable and regional supply chains."  

Dense Media Separation ("DMS") and Flotation Locked-Cycle ("LCT") testing produced a high quality spodumene concentrate product with an average grade of 7.2% lithium oxide ("Li₂O"), iron oxide below 0.15% Fe₂O₃, and low impurities from the composite sample. The concentrate produced compares favorably with the premium concentrate specification guarantees (see Table I) from the world's rare primary source of technical grade spodumene concentrates, produced from select zones of the Greenbushes deposit in southwestern Australia.

The composite sample was prepared by the Company to approximate zonation variability of the resource with dilution at the average PAK lithium open pit reserve grade of 2.06% Li₂O as recommended and defined by the 2018 PAK Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) – 2020 Spark Resource Estimation, filed on SEDAR March 23, 2020 by WSP and Nordmin Engineering.

Overall total lithium recovery on the improved flowsheet was seventy-five (75%) at a combined average grade of 7.0% Li₂O. This included sixty-seven percent 67% (21% of the ore mass/yield) to the high-quality 7.2% Li₂O technical grade spodumene concentrate as outlined in Table I, with the balance deporting to a lesser 6.2% Li₂O chemical grade concentrate. Frontier is currently conducting permitting, engineering and cost estimation for a planned demonstration concentrator; whereby similar metallurgical results are expected with possible further optimization.

Mr. Garth Drever, P.Geo., is the "Qualified Person" for Frontier defined under NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

About Frontier Lithium Inc.

Frontier Lithium is a Sudbury based, Canadian owned, publicly listed, junior mining company with the largest land position in an emerging premium lithium mineral district located in the Great Lakes region of northern Ontario. The company is in late-stage exploration, early-stage development phase with the near-term goal of building a Demonstration concentrator under an advanced exploration permit. The company's PAK Lithium Project contains North America's highest-grade concentration of rare low-iron, lithium bearing mineral spodumene and is Ontario's largest resource with significant upside potential to increase. Frontier Lithium's current objective is to demonstrate the potential of the PAK Lithium Deposit to produce up to 2,000 tonnes Lithium Carbonate Equivalent ("LCE") of premium spodumene concentrates for glass producers and for feedstock to produce lithium chemicals.

Frontier maintains a tight share structure with management ownership exceeding 30% of the Company.

About the PAK Lithium Project

The PAK Lithium Project encompasses 26,774 hectares at the south end of Ontario's Electric Avenue, which is the largest land package hosting lithium bearing pegmatites in Ontario. The Project covers 65km of Avenue length and remains largely unexplored; however, since 2013 the company has delineated two premium spodumene bearing lithium deposits located 2.3 km from each other at the southwestern end of the project.  Recently, Frontier confirmed the presence of spodumene with the Pennock Lake pegmatite occurrence a further 30km along Frontier's PAK Lithium Project.

The PAK deposit has a mineral reserve in proven and probable category of 5.77 MT averaging 2.06% Li₂O. The deposit hosts a rare technical/ceramic grade spodumene with low inherent iron (below 0.1% Fe₂O₃). The "2019 Discovery of the year award" winning Spark Deposit has a mineral resource estimate of 3.2 MT averaging 1.59% Li₂O in indicated and 12.2 MT averaging 1.36% Li₂O in inferred category, as per NI 43-101 Technical Report, "PAK prefeasibility study, Spark resource estimation" by WSP Canada Inc. and Nordmin Engineering Ltd., updated on March 23, 2020.

SOURCE Frontier Lithium Inc.

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