MinRes to put lithium mine on ice, to cut 300 jobs
The company will put its Bald Hill lithium mine in Western Australia under care and maintenance starting this week.
Canada Lithium Corp. (TSX: CLQ) (OTCQX: CLQMF) announced today it has filled three senior management positions and placed key orders for both process plant and mine equipment as the $202-million Québec Lithium Project near Val d’Or, Qué., enters the construction phase.
Donald Blanchet, P.Eng., MBA, has been appointed Vice President, Sustainable Development, in charge of project environmental approval processes, as well as supervising all aspects of site environmental works. M. Blanchet has over 25 years of experience in civil engineering and environmental protection and has considerable experience in major-project permitting and construction. Before joining Canada Lithium, he was Director of GENIVAR Inc.’s Amos, Qué., office. He also worked previously as a vice president for Pellemon Inc. and SNC-Lavalin.
Jean Luc Bernier, P.Eng., M.Sc., has been appointed Metallurgical Superintendent. M. Bernier, a chemical engineer with over 30 years of metallurgical experience, worked previously with Rio-Tinto-Alcan in the development of new technologies, overseeing construction of new facilities and operations management. Among other things, he was involved in the development of aluminum-lithium alloy technology for Alcan.
Construction of Canada Lithium’s mine and plant will be overseen by Marco Plourde, the Project’s new Construction Superintendent. M. Plourde has for the past 30 years supervised and managed dam construction, earthworks and open-pit mine operations in Canada and around the world, including postings as mining superintendent for Goro Nickel in New Caledonia, Canadian Royalties in Québec and Essakane in Burkina Faso. Prior to joining Canada Lithium, M. Plourde was General Superintendent for Agregat RN, working on the Osisko mining project near Val d’Or.
“We are delighted to welcome on board Messrs. Blanchet, Bernier and Plourde,” said Charles Taschereau, Chief Operating Officer. “We will now move rapidly into the construction phase of project development, with site preparation scheduled to commence in mid-August 2011.”
The Company also announced that key orders have been placed with suppliers for both the processing plant and the mining operation. Orders for the process plant’s long-lead-time items, such as the ball mill, rod mill and kiln, have now been confirmed with Metso Inc. The ball and rod mills will be built in Montreal and the kiln will be sourced in the U.S.
For the mining operation, the initial order for three, 91-tonne Caterpillar mine-haul trucks has been placed with Hewitt Equipment Limited in Québec.
About Canada Lithium Corp.
Canada Lithium Corp. holds a 100% interest in the Québec Lithium Project near Val d’Or, the geographical heart of the Québec mining industry. The Company plans to build an open-pit mine and processing plant on-site with capacity to produce approximately 20,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate. Metallurgical tests have produced battery-grade lithium carbonate samples. The Company trades under the symbol CLQ on the TSX and on the U.S. OTCQX under the symbol CLQMF.
