Cypress Development and Lilac Solutions Demonstrate High Lithium Recoveries from Clayton Valley Project in Nevada
July 15, 2019Vancouver, BC - Cypress Development Corp. (TSX-V: CYP) (OTCQB: CYDVF) (Frankfurt: C1Z1) (“Cypress” or “the Company”) and Lilac Solutions (“Lilac”) are pleased to announce the successful demonstration of high lithium recoveries for Cypress’ 100% held Clayton Valley Project in Nevada utilizing extraction processes developed by Lilac Solutions. Lilac Solutions is a lithium extraction technology company based in Oakland, California. Cypress’ Clayton Valley Project is located 215 miles southeast of Reno, Nevada and features a large clay-hosted lithium deposit with 3.8 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent in a NI 43-101 Indicated Resource category (see PEA NI 43-101 Technical Report).
Today, most lithium is produced from lithium brine resources in South America or hard-rock resources in Australia. Clay resources offer a potential new third branch of the lithium resource base and include large domestic United States resources such as Cypress’ Clayton Valley project. However, to date, clay resources have not achieved commercial lithium production due to technical challenges associated with lithium extraction. Cypress and Lilac are addressing these challenges together with a highly efficient and modern mining process.
“Cypress has established one of the largest lithium resources in the United States and Lilac is excited to work with the Cypress team to move this domestic resource towards commercial production,” said David Snydacker, CEO and founder of Lilac Solutions. “The United States is home to a variety of important players in the electric vehicle sector and is an epicenter for innovation. This Nevada project has the potential to deliver the critical raw material needed by every North American automaker to compete over the next decade.”
Cypress has developed an innovative leaching process which reduces the quantity of sulfuric acid needed to leach lithium from clay. After the lithium is leached into a sulfate solution (the “leachate”), Lilac can extract lithium from the leachate to produce a high-purity lithium solution (the “eluate”), which can be fed into conventional process equipment to produce a high-purity lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide product.
Lilac extracted lithium from the clay leachate using Lilac’s patented ion exchange process. Following initial engineering work on the Cypress leachate, Lilac was able to recover 83% of lithium from the leachate while simultaneously rejecting greater than 99% of sodium, potassium, and magnesium impurities. The remaining lithium in the leachate can then be recycled back to the leaching stage to effectively allow further recovery of the lithium.
“Lilac’s results are promising and offers us another path forward to effectively recover lithium from our process solutions” said Cypress’ CEO Dr. Bill Willoughby. “Our project is a significant potential source of domestic lithium and we are pleased to be working with Lilac in applying their ion exchange technology.”
Cypress and Lilac plan to advance engineering work towards a pilot plant and commercial development. Cypress is now completing a Pre-Feasibility Study which incorporates the Lilac process.
William Willoughby, PhD., PE, CEO and director of Cypress Development is the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has approved of the technical information in this release.
About Lilac Solutions:
Lilac Solutions is a lithium extraction technology company unlocking new supplies of lithium from abundant resources. Lilac is a privately held company based in Oakland, California. For more information about Lilac Solutions, visit their website at http://www.lilacsolutions.com/.
About Cypress Development Corp.:
Cypress Development Corp. is a publicly traded exploration company focused on developing the Company's 100%-owned Clayton Valley Lithium Project in Nevada. Exploration and development by Cypress has discovered a world-class resource of lithium-bearing claystone adjacent to Albemarle's Silver Peak mine, North America's only lithium brine operation. The size of the resource makes the Clayton Valley Project a premier target that has the potential to impact the future supply of lithium for the fast-growing global lithium-ion battery market.
Cypress Development Corp. has approx. 74.6 million shares issued and outstanding.
To find out more about Cypress Development Corp. (TSX-V: CYP), visit our website at www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com.
CYPRESS DEVELOPMENT CORP.
“Dr. Bill Willoughby”
WILLIAM WILLOUGHBY, PhD., PE
Chief Executive Officer
For further information contact myself or:
Don Myers
Cypress Development Corp.
Director, Corporate Communications
Telephone: 604-639-3851
Toll Free: 800-567-8181
Facsimile: 604-687-3119
Email: info@cypressdevelopmentcorp.com
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This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.