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(Kitco News) - On Thursday, Leo Lithium (ASX: LLL) announced that it has produced its first direct shipped ore (DSO) at the Goulamina lithium project in Mali.
The company said that the first blast on site was initiated earlier this month, with initial DSO mining activities focusing on the stage 1 starter pit, which contains 1.65Mt of undiluted fresh ore of measured resource category at an average grade of 1.68% Li2O and 0.73% Fe2O3.
Importantly, according to a news release, first revenue from DSO is on track to be received during Q4 2023, and Leo Lithium anticipates the export of DSO ore for 6 to 9 months in advance of spodumene production.
On an annualized basis, the company is targeting 185,000 tonnes of DSO exports until spodumene production commences.
Goulamina is a world-class, high grade hard rock lithium deposit with a mineral resource of 211.0 Mt at 1.37% Li2O and ore reserve of 52 Mt at 1.51% Li2O (1.9 Mt lithium carbonate equivalent).
“The project is characterized by its quality product. A high quality spodumene concentrate with test work validating 6% Li2O has low impurities and was successfully converted into battery grade lithium hydroxide,” the company said.
Leo Lithium also noted that Goulamina represents “the next lithium project of significant scale” to enter production, adding that the project will be the first of its kind in West Africa. Construction is underway and first production is targeted for H1 2024.
The project is being developed in a 50/50 partnership with Ganfeng, the world’s largest lithium chemical producer by production capacity, providing funding, offtake and operational support to de-risk development.
Managing Director Simon Hay commented, “The early start-up of the open-pit mining operations at Goulamina via DSO is a positive milestone that positions the company to crystallize long-term benefits.
“The revenue potential during a solid pricing environment will bolster our balance sheet flexibility, as we continue to progress the Goulamina project towards spodumene concentrate production over two stages. DSO also presents an opportunity for us to optimize our logistics solution as we scale up Goulamina, further de-risking the project’s development.”
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