Lepidico Ltd. announced that it has received a carbon footprint assessment for the integrated Phase 1 Project from GHD Pty Ltd. (GHD). Scope 1 and 2 emissions1 intensity associated with the Abu Dhabi Phase 1 Chemical Plant is just 7.46t CO2-e 2/t lithium hydroxide, which GHD advised as being, "low compared with other emission intensities reported or derived from lithium hydroxide production facilities." Similar emissions associated with mining and the mineral concentration plant gave an emissions intensity of 0.13 tCO2-e/t concentrate, which is, "comparable with other similar lithium mine and concentrator projects." GHD has prepared a high-level quantitative greenhouse gas (GHG) assessment for the Lepidico Phase 1 Project, an integrated alkali metal ore mining, mineral concentration, and processing project that spans across multiple countries. The assessment includes: the Karibib Operations in the operational phase; transport of the concentrates from Namibia to UAE by sea; the Abu Dhabi Chemical Plant for processing the concentrate to produce lithium hydroxide (using L-Max® and LOH-Max®) and several by-products; and transport of the final products to end-users. The GHG assessment is based on Lepidico provided data and reasonable assumptions made. The project is expected to operate for 14-years and expected to be in steady state post ramp-up from 2024 to 2034, with the source emissions activity data averaged for these 11 years. The majority of the emissions are from the Phase 1 Chemical Plant operations, due to the high natural gas consumption and the generation and emission of carbon dioxide associated with the use of lime. Total Scope 1 and 2 emissions during the Phase 1 Chemical Plant phase account for 84% of the inventory, at 52,690 tCO2-e. Of this 59% is associated with the use of natural gas in the conversion plant boiler. The Karibib project is estimated to account for 16% of emissions, at 10,363 tCO2-e (which includes an estimated 2,383 tCO2-e for vegetation clearing). Preliminary Scope 3 estimates for emissions from transport of concentrate from Namibia to UAE and transport of products and by-products are only 6,732 and 2,507 tCO2-e respectively. Emissions intensity The L-Max® and LOH-Max® process technologies are materially different to conventional brine and spodumene processing in that a significant amount of the processing is there to recover valuable by-products. By-product processing involves additional electricity and natural gas use, as well as process emissions from limestone use. The emissions associated with the L-Max® and LOH-Max® processes have, therefore, been allocated to the lithium hydroxide product, as well as the by- products based on projected revenue split. The emissions intensities for the different intermediate products and products were calculated based on the total emissions in tCO2-e divided by the estimate of average tonnes produced. Only Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions are considered, noting that emissions due to vegetation clearing during construction in Namibia were excluded. The emissions associated only with mining and the mineral concentration plant gave an emissions intensity of 0.13 tCO2-e/t concentrate (1.37t CO2-e/t lithium hydroxide). This is comparable with other similar lithium mine and concentrator projects. The emissions intensity associated with the Phase 1 Chemical Plant only was 7.46 tCO2-e/t LiOH (equivalent to 8.47 tCO2-e/t lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE)). This is low compared with other emission intensities reported or derived from lithium hydroxide production facilities. The emissions intensity of lithium hydroxide for the integrated plant (mine plus chemical plant) is 8.83 tCO2-e/t LiOH. Life cycle emissions intensities for operating integrated plants were not publicly available for comparison. The LOH-Max® process will produce valuable by-products including caesium sulphate, rubidium sulphate, amorphous silica. sulphate of potash and potentially gypsum. The estimated potential emissions savings are approximately 34,009 tCO2-e per year. This would offset a material proportion of envisaged overall annual Scope 3 inventory emissions. Emission savings relating to use of caesium and rubidium compounds have not been quantified. However, some key uses of caesium sulphate demonstrate benefits of reducing emissions and enhancing productivity thereby reducing net emissions. Options for reduction in emission include on site and off site solar power to replace hydrocarbon sourced grid energy, which could reduce Scope 2 emissions to zero and total Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 16%. Natural gas is assumed to be used in the Definitive Feasibility Study for generating process steam in the conversion plant, which represents the greatest single GHG emission source, 4.6 tCO2-e/t. However, Lycopodium, which is undertaking front end engineering and design work for Phase 1, has been requested to consider solar pre-heating of boiler feed water as well as a green hydrogen enabled boiler in the final selection of the boiler for the conversion plant. The latter could eliminate the use of natural gas resulting in a massive 59% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Diesel fuel consumed by the small mining fleet may also be substantially reduced should electric mining equipment be employed. This will be evaluated once suitable scale electric equipment becomes available. Another significant development will be the implementation of a new technology developed by Lepidico to produce lithium carbonate from conversion of the lithium hydroxide monohydrate. The process will use carbon dioxide which is emitted from upstream use of limestone (process emissions) and sequester that carbon dioxide to produce the lithium carbonate. This will consume approximately 0.6 tCO2-e per tonne of lithium carbonate and would reduce the Chemical Plant emissions intensity from 8.47 tCO2-e/t LCE to 7.87 tCO2-e/t.