(Kitco News) - Lithium producer Allkem (TSX: AKE) announced today that in September quarter, its Mt Cattlin mine in Australia produced 17,606 dmt of spodumene and shipped 21,215 dmt, generating revenue of US$106.7 million with a gross cash margin of 80%.
An additional US$35 million of revenue was generated from sales of 59,326 dmt of low grade spodumene concentrate from pre-existing stockpiles and processing of fine-grained spodumene ore.
The company said that September quarter recovery of 25% reflects the temporary fine-grained nature of some of the mined ore, adding that mining capacity successfully increased to 1,000,000 bcm by the end of August, compared to 750,000 bcm in the month prior.
"Recently, magnetic ore sorters have been installed to improve the quality of plant feedstock when processing low-grade stockpiles. Metallurgical test work on fine-grained ore is continuing," Allkem noted in a news release.
During previous June quarter, Mt Cattlin produced 24,845 dmt of spodumene concentrate and shipped 37,837 dmt, generating revenue of US$188.9 million with a gross cash margin of 84%.
The company also reported that September quarter production at the Olaroz lithium facility in Argentina was up 17% on the previous corresponding period to 3,289 tonnes of lithium carbonate, 43% of which was battery grade material.
Total sales revenue from Olaroz of ~US$150 million was up 6% q-o-q. The average price received from third party sales was $43,237/tonne on an FOB basis reflecting continuing strong market conditions, it said.
According to a press release, Group revenue for the quarter was $298 million (June quarter: US$337 million) and group gross operating cash margin was 82%, approximately US$244 million.
The company said that demand for lithium chemicals and spodumene concentrate continued to be strong during the quarter with published lithium prices rallying to new record highs.
"Our business is entering a period of significant growth with Naraha to begin commercial production later this year, Olaroz Stage 2 first production in the first half of next year, Sal de Vida scheduled to commence production in late 2023 and James Bay in mid-2024," it added.
Allkem is a specialty lithium chemicals company with a global portfolio of diverse projects. The company's portfolio includes lithium brine and borax operations in Argentina, a hard-rock lithium operation in Australia and a lithium hydroxide conversion facility in Japan.
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