A couple of points I would like to include;
re: "Wages, simply Australian wages are in the order of 20 x what the pay in Mali."
Wages:
Australia:
Sourced from some the online employment firms, ie: Seek, Indeed, Glassdoor and Talent, the average is basically the same range across all of them being circa $125,000 average
$100,000 (entry level) - $160,000 (experienced) per year with additional allowances of $6,000 - $12,000, this is at the gate wages and excludes further costs of FIFO needs to cover labour shortages.
Underground mining sees the entry level start at $130,000 with the average (across the same sources) being $150,000.
$130,000 (entry level) - $185,000 (experienced) additional allowances seem to be the same whether it is pit or underground (assuming they are some sort of standard allowances?) and also excludes further costs of FIFO needs to cover labour shortages.
Mali:
Difficult to get much information specifically to mining but the average skilled worker's annual salary is (assuming it is USD) US$1,500 equivalent to A$2,230 (at todays exchange rate) which equates to Australian wages are 60 times what Malian counterparts earn - unless my maths is skewed?
Also assuming that the Malian mine workers would be classed as skilled workers?
Work force:
Suffice to say, that labour workforce shortages wouldn't imply to Mali but it is certainly a major concern for Western Australia and not getting any better.
The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA estimates there are nearly $150 billion worth of projects either underway or in the pipeline.
Perth based consultancy firm Pit Crew, which provides labour market forecasts to the mining sector, estimates WA's mining industry could currently support 150,000 jobs, but there is a shortfall of about 28,000 workers.
The company's managing director, Peter Dyball, said he expected demand for labour to peak in late 2025, with about 182,000 jobs on offer and a forecast shortfall of 36,500 workers. My Dyball also said there was also a shortage of more than 5,000 earthmoving equipment operators forecast for 2025, with constraints on all occupations likely to continue until at least 2028.
The labour shortages are not exclusive to Western Australia, recruiting from the eastern states won't help because the labour shortages are Australian wide and it may see spikes in wages to entice workers adding further costs to WA projects?
I would opine that the labour shortage could be alleviated in the short term as some mining operations go into C & M in this current Li low price climate.
Western Australian government is throwing it support be relaxing some of the employment criteria of VISA holders as mining VISA sponsorship jobs have been included on the lists.
Transport:
Both Leo Lithium and Liontown Resources included port costs as included in their respective DFS (LLL Dec 2021) (LTR Nov 2021)
Leo Lithium = US$98/t (A$149/t) inclusive of port charges -- currency converted as at todays date.
There are opportunities for Leo Lithium for further cost efficiencies with the;
~ truck payload increasing 32% from 38 tonne to 50 tonne, that will also reduce the absolute numbers of trucks required and associated running costs.
~ both of the current port options have the potential for backload options set to deliver enhanced cost efficiencies and substantial flexibility in the haulage operations.
LionTown Resources = A$69 /wmt concentrate.
Acute labour shortages in the transport industry is also an on going problem, with WA trucking bosses estimating the state was losing $2.8 million a day due to truck driver shortages. The Western Australian government $6.3 million initiative to train drivers for the Pilbara & Kimberly regions (2022) has alleviated some of the shortage problems but transport companies have resorted to offering up to $30,000 - $50,000 over the entry level as well as sponsoring international drivers under the VISA Sponsorship guidelines.
Further compounding the transport driver shortages are associated supports being a shortage of diesel mechanics & technicians, supervisors and managers with the expertise to support the industry.
++ In a move to help, the National Road Transport Authority have made suggestions to the government,
~ to redesignate truck driving as skill level 3 under the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupation, rather then the current skill level 4.
~ add truck driving to the Australian Apprenticeship Priority List (this determines eligibility for training support payments)
~ add truck driving to the Trade Support Loans Priority List, and finally (scary)
~ add truck driving to the skilled migration visa system
Additional cost not accounted for in Liontown's transport component in the DFS costings, being;
~ increase in road train drivers salaries;
In the DFS, under the Climate Strategy Roadmap is targeting a road concentrate transport fleet being 50% biofuel (or equivalent) within 5 years;
~ possible increases in fuel costs - biodiesel being dearer
~ it is difficult to get any current information, historic data has biodiesel 70% - 130% higher (previous years up to 2019) but unless you are going to run B100 versus a blend it is just a load of crock.
cheers
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