Efficient as that is, the case for having a refinery at NAL and shipping Lithium at at 1/8th of the volume of spodumene direct to a battery manufacturer remains strong. Going to be interesting to see how thing's pan out at NAL but you can't help thinking that the issue may be revisited.
Mining to refining on the same site has always been the holy grail but getting someone to front up on the refining side is the challenge, a refiner doesn't worry where it's Spod comes from, they pay market prices regardless and factor in shipping costs, their concern is how far they have to ship the Lithium so like to be near a battery manufacturer who themselves lick to be near an end user.
If it was simple everyone would do it..
Cheers Whisky
(20min delay)