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Today's "The West Australian"

Patriot defies the naysayers on lithium

Adrian Rauso

Ken Brinsden’s Canadian lithium company believes its flagship project can still be profitable at current prices, while signs are emerging the sapped lithium market may be about to regain some strength.

Patriot Battery Metals released the project economic assessment for its Shaakichiuwaanaan lithium development in Canada yesterday, highlighting the mine is estimated to have a break-even price of $US587 per tonne — on a 6 per cent spodumene concentrate grade basis — once ramp-up is complete.

Patriot expects to outlay $1.37billion for the mine to reach nameplate capacity. The company is now “considering” a feasibility study, which if progressed is targeted for completion during the September quarter of next year.

Mr Brinsden, Patriot’s boss, said the Shaakichiuwaanaan assessment illustrates a “potentially resilient project”.

“The Shaakichiuwaanaan project is potentially well-positioned to anchor the North American lithium supply chain, meeting demand for decades to come, in the process targeting significant returns for all our stakeholders while maintaining a strong emphasis on sustainability and limited environmental impact,” he said.

Shares in Patriot jumped by nearly 6 per cent following the announcement but finished flat.

The Patriot announcement comes as sentiment for lithium shows some green shoots.

In the first 18 days of August about 490,000 electric vehicles were sold in China, up 58 per cent from a year ago and up 27 per cent for the same timeframe last month, according to data released on Wednesday by the China Passenger Car Association.

This provided a much-needed boost to the share values of Australia’s lithium producers over the past two days, despite the prevailing price of 6 per cent grade spodumene concentrate falling below $US800 per tonne earlier this week.

The spodumene benchmark has fallen about $US200/t in the space of a month and over $US2000/t in the past year to lows not experienced since mid-2021.

Mr Brinsden was the former managing director of lithium major Pilbara Minerals.