Deutsche Bank & DSO, page-125

Haha sorry.

So MIN are just shipping straight ore hence DSO which stands for direct shipping ore.

The process of turning the straight ore into 6% spodumene concentrate ("concentrate") is the part that will vary most depending on the grades as I tried to outline above. This could vary anywhere between 8-12 tonnes of ore to produce 1 tonne of concentrate.

You then have to process the concentrate into carbonate which is the part that will as a general rule take 8 tonnes of concentrate per tonne of carbonate.

So if step 1 takes 8 tonnes and step 2 takes 8 tonnes you have a total of 64 tonnes (8 x 8) of ore to make 1 tonne of carbonate.

If step 1 takes 12 tonnes and step 2 takes 8 tonnes you have a total of 96 tonnes (12 x 8) of ore to make 1 tonne of carbonate.

Now DSO ore is selling for around US$90/tonne from my understanding. Processing costs of ore spodumene might be $150/tonne and then conversion of spodumene to Carbonate is estimated at around $2,500-$3,000.

So essentially as a minimum you have 64*$90 + 8*150 + $2,500 = $9,460. And then the intermediaries need to make money aswell. So as long as DSO exists you probably have an absolute floor price on lithium carbonate of $12,000/tonne.

This is why A/C made such a great point that DSO supports lithium prices not crushes them as DB suggested.