- What is the cost of production per tonne compared to equivalent quality from brine projects in Argentina? (there are several for comparison) - will we have to discount our price to compete ?
- What is the comparative capital cost per tonne? (there are several for comparison).
"Huge" is a term frequently used by posters on this site. Kachi ranks 7th in Argentina (total iindicated and inferred)
From Kachi JORC dated November 2018)
The indicated resource is 1,005,000 tonnes Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) from brine with an average lithium concentration of 289 mg/L The majority of the resource is inferred - 3,394,000 tonnes LCE from brine with an average lithium concentration of 209 mg/L
I have seen no reference to an drilling other than the 15 holes completed to November 2018 which provided those estimates. The inferred resource and concentrations maybe more or less than indicated
The Lilac process makes possible the recovery of lithium from brine with low lithium concentrations that would not be economical using evaporation ponds. However as can be seen the cost per tonne of LCE using the Lilac process at Kachi is somewhat higher than from evaporation ponds with higher Li concentrations.
Logically using the Lilac process the lower the concentration (of the inferred resource) the higher the production cost per tonne will be. The same would apply to the evaporation process i.e the lower the concentration the higher the cost per tonne
However IMO both the indicated and inferred resource estimates are academic and the RECOVERABLE resource is the true basis for valuation. Are the resources to recover 100% of the resource proven. That should be available from the full "technical" version of the PFS if it is available. Over what period of time will the resource be recovered. Will lithium batteries still be in use at the end of (say) a 40 year life of mine. Will the capital be available to accelerate the rate of recovery.?
Hope that is useful
DYOR
LKE Price at posting:
3.4¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
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