Tag: lithium

AVZ Minerals Limited (ASX: AVZ, OTCQX: AZZVF) has reached agreement with Suzhou CATH Energy Technologies to complete its US$240 million investment into the Manono Lithium and Tin Project in the DRC. Further to the company’s previous announcements, the parties have now agreed to waive the following conditions precedent: the Mining Licence for the Manono Project being granted to Dathcom Mining SA; the entry by Dathcom and the DRC Government into the Collaboration Development Agreement; and Dathcom board and shareholders making a final investment decision and approving the transaction. Managing Director, Nigel Ferguson, said it is anticipated that completion of the proposed transaction will occur during March 2022, allowing for the commencement of a multi-faceted global joint venture between AVZ and…

Australian-based battery materials company Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR) has entered into a legally binding sales and purchase term sheet with electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla for the supply of spodumene concentrate. The Agreement is for the supply of up to 150,000 dry metric tonnes (DMT) per annum of spodumene concentrate to be produced at Liontown’s Kathleen Valley Lithium Project in Western Australia and is expected to commence in 2024, representing approximately one-third of the Project’s start-up SC6.0 production capacity of ~500ktpa. Kathleen Valley is a new, globally significant, lithium development project located 680km north-east of Perth in Western Australia’s premier mining district. Underpinned by a world-class lithium deposit with a Mineral Resource Estimate of 156Mt at 1.4% Li2O and 130ppm…

Perth-based lithium exploration and development company Winsome Resources (ASX:WR1) has commenced trading on the ASX following an Initial Public Offering (IPO) which raised A$18 million. Managing Director, Chris Evans, said Winsome will utilise the funds for an intensive exploration and drilling campaign at its projects in the James Bay region of Quebec, Canada. The company will concentrate its efforts on establishing a maiden resource of high quality spodumene concentrate that is suitable for conversion across multiple battery applications. Winsome currently has three wholly owned projects – Cancet, Adina and Sirmac-Clappier. The most advanced project, Cancet, provides a shallow, high-grade lithium deposit and is located close to established infrastructure and supply chains. “Current trends show up to 10 times more lithium…

S&P GLOBAL Market Intelligence latest report on lithium and cobalt paints a revealing picture for the rare earths’ market. Though the fall-out from COVID-19 has seen total sales and growth of EV’s slow in China, S&P are predicting an increase in sales in Europe due to stricter vehicle emissions standards pushing drivers toward electric vehicles. European and Chinese government policies favour of EV’s driving down battery costs. European car-makers including Volkswagen and BMW have made investments in the EV market which should bear fruit over the course of 2020 as EU transitions toward carbon neutrality. The EV sales should lead to an increase in the Lithium Carbonate price which has so far decline 9.5% this year, averaging US$8,121 p/t in…

EMERGING lithium miner Sayona Mining has announced plans to focus its WA exploration efforts on projects within the world-class Pilgangoora lithium district, home to Earn-In partner Altura Mining Limited’s successful mining operation and other major spodumene deposits. The strategic review follows last year’s agreement in which Altura agreed to spend A$1.5m on exploration across the project portfolio over three years to earn a 51pc interest, with Sayona retaining the remaining project interest. Altura has progressed the Earn-In assets, commencing a field mapping and sampling program in the northern Mallina (E47/2983), Deep Well (E47/3829), Tabba Tabba (E45/2364) and Red Rock (E45/4716) tenements. The proximity of these tenements to Altura’s existing mining and processing infrastructure is expected to significantly enhance the development…

LITHIUM Australia is assessing the use of recycled battery components as fertiliser micro-nutrients. Glasshouse testing of mixed metal dust recovered from recycled alkaline batteries were completed under the direction of the company’s consulting agronomist. Nine tests were conducted on a quadruplicate basis to statistically assess mixed metal dust (MMD) performance as a fertiliser against control samples. The alkaline MMD is produced by the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Envirostream Australia at its spent-battery recycling facility in Victoria. Envirostream collects the spent alkaline batteries from pick-up points at numerous locations, including Bunnings, Officeworks and Cleanaway, which are then mechanically shredded, with the cathode and anode active compounds (collectively referred to as MMD) separated. That material contains the high levels of zinc and manganese…

LITHIUM Australia has received a ‘Certificate of Grant’ from IP Australia for its LieNA lithium processing technology patent, providing legal protection in Australia for 20 years over the technology. LieNA significantly improves metallurgical recovery of lithium from fine and contaminated spodumene. Hard-rock lithium production has long faced a major sustainability issue of poor recoveries of spodumene from the mine onwards to the production of lithium chemicals. While the recovery rate of lithium from conventional spodumene beneficiation varies, it can be as low as 50pc owing to the concentrate offtake specification constraints applied by the current generation of lithium chemical producers, all of which commence the process by roasting the concentrate. LieNA does not require a roasting stage and can recover…

AUSTRALIAN lithium developer Core Lithium has received approval of its Mine Management Plan from the Northern Territory Government, marking the achievement of the final major authorisation milestone to build the Territory’s first lithium mine and production facility. Core’s Finniss Lithium Project, located within an hour by road to Darwin Port, is well placed to become Australia’s next lithium producer and the country’s first outside WA.  Core Lithium managing director Stephen Biggins said the Finniss Lithium Project would create more than 200 direct full-time jobs in the Northern Territory, additional employment in South Australia, and had the potential to inject more than half a billion dollars into the local economy during its first three years of operation. “And Core’s recent investment…