Inaugural Kathleen Valley shipment departs for China
The first shipment of concentrate from Liontown Resources (ASX: LTR) Kathleen Valley lithium project in WA has departed from the Port of Geraldton and is enroute to China.
The shipment, onboard MV Eckert Oldendorff, comprises of 11,855wmt of spodumene concentrate with a weighted average concentrate grade of 5.2% lithium oxide.
Liontown managing director and chief executive Tony Ottaviano commented on the shipment.
“Over the past six years, Liontown has focused on developing and constructing a world-class tier-1 lithium operations and now we announce the beginning of generating revenue and cash flow as we see our plans come to fruition,” he said.
“Within two months of first production at Kathleen Valley, we have not only successfully produced and now shipped concentrate, but we have also achieved a sale on the spot market, realising a premium sales price in the current market conditions and demonstrating the consistent demand for high-grade battery products.
“As we look ahead, we continue our ramp up progress towards steady state production and remain committed to enhancing shareholder value with confidence in the long-term success of the Kathleen Valley lithium operations.”
In early September, Liontown announced it had produced more than 10,000t of spodumene concentrate from Kathleen Valley since beginning operations.
Kathleen Valley lies around 60km north of Leinster and 680km northeast of Perth and has a mineral resource estimate of 156mt at 1.4% lithium oxide and 130ppm tantalum pentoxide. Over 80% of the mineral resource is classified as measured or indicated.
An ore reserve of 68.5mt at 1.34% lithium oxide and 120ppm tantalum oxide supports an expected mine life of over 20 years.