Cheers. Currently, the premium for 99.5% BG lithium over 99.2% tech grade is only about US$500 per tonne (on the spot market). However, when prices were closer to US$20k per tonne, the gap was around US$1500-$2,000 per tonne. Based on that, I believe a 10% premium is a reasonable estimate for spot market sales, and similar for contract sales. As mentioned in my earlier post, Minera Exar is losing about US$1,500 per tonne in their sales to Ganfeng to refine their tech grade product to BG. In the current market, higher prices seem more tied to contract timing, negotiation dynamics, and customer quality, as evidenced by Arcadium’s performance. They achieved an average price of US$16,200 per tonne in Q3 last year, with Q4 results expected soon.
I do think your statement is realistic. The challenges with the FEED circuit appear to be unrelated to the chemistry or grade, so if those issues can be resolved, consistently producing above 99.5% for the majority of output should be attainable, provided they secure a suitable funding solution.
AGY Price at posting:
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