I would just like to take the time to address some responses to my previous post and make some clarifications. Your responses have definitely helped me in understanding a few things which I have addressed seperately below.
Corrections to my previous post (OSP vs Clean Ore):Thank you
@Sjlasx for the clarification there, you are correct that the 599kt of OSP (which is a significant amount)
is not clear ore. A detail I had unfortunately overlooked when writing my post late last night and glad to rectify to the community with this post.
I also want to thank
@dynofish for addressing the OSP and that it has some contamination, you have also provided very useful commentary. If I understand correctly, this OSP ore can still be processed through either blending with the clean ore or batch processing as a stand alone product however we still do not know how much the OSP would translate across into DMT of spodumene concentrate produced? Notwithstanding this, you did mention that the option of blending has still yielded "on spec" output which I think is a good result.
Would anybody care to estimate how many tonnes of SC5.2 the company might be able to produce from the 1.3 million tonnes of ore in stockpile? If the average lithium oxide grade mined from the OP was 1.3%, would it be safe to assume that the 599kt of OSP is also decently graded too? This is where I have a knowledge gap and must defer to those better than myself.
Still a great achievement by LTR:That being said, it still does not detract from my original and overall point of how well LTR had performed throughout the December 24 quarter and that LTR had managed to delivered a profit, during its first full quarter of ramp up in a low pricing environment, with receivables and saleable concentrate on hand, all the while incurring additional mining costs above and beyond its needs for the December quarter to secure its future operations and stockpiles. It is a huge feat.
Transition from Open Pit to Underground Mining:Thank you
@Sjlasx and
@yaschmidt for clarifying that the accumulation of stockpiled ore is likely relating to the mine plan timing for the transition from OP to UG. You are certainly correct and this makes a lot of sense with the revised mine plan and to focus its capital on the UG development while processing and selling the OP mined ore.
I want to highlight that the revised mine plan was put together in early November 2024 when the price of lithium was actually much lower (see below). Despite the short time period, things have improved a lot where OP is now profitable with very little waste rock mined (especially compared to some competitors). There is not such a need to target the high grade UG ore,
but I would probably need to defer here to those more familiar with these operations than myself.
My thoughts right now is that if open pit mining is profitable enough to generate free cash flows, why stop doing this when it can continue and simultaneously fund the development of UG mining on another front? It seems logical to me that while the price of lithium keeping increasing, there is no reasons to stop OP mining.
We are in a much better position now with less capital constraint and a clearer picture than in November 24.
Nameplate Expansion:I also appreciate the comments by
@DaisyA,
@dynofish and
@yaschmidt in respect to the work required for nameplate expansion from 2.8mpta to 3mpta and 4mpta. To confirm, the drop to 2.8mpta was a voluntary cost saving measure and not a plant limitation, an increase back to 3mpta is easily done and probably something that Tony Ottaviano would be keen to do.
The more difficult part that would require capex spend is to increase from 3mpta to 4mpta, although
@dynofish correctly noted that the paste fill plant has already been constructed with 2 units and full capacity for a 4mpta operation. Perhaps
@Sjlasx you would know how much additional capex spend would be required for expansion here?
Thank you also to
@jlgread and
@lostman for your responses, I enjoy reading your posts.
I learn a lot from everyone in this community, unfortunately I do make some mistakes especially around the things that are not financially related e.g. geology and mining operations... I am still learning in that regard, but I will get sharper here. Thankfully we have a great community of posters here to quickly correct things when this does happen.
Never underestimate the power of a well informed shareholder base!
Regards,
CK
(20min delay)