I haven't posted in a while given many are awaiting the current legal issues to be resolved one way or another. I find it curious we are starting to discuss an ongoing royalty with the Local Council.
Surely this could have been done Day 1....... it's been about Money the whole time. Give the local council an ongoing 2-3% royalty payment, with a guarantee % of Local Jobs and lets get digging I say.
"The Australian company Infinity Lithium is willing to make concessions to extract Cáceres's large lithium reserve, the second largest in Europe and an important source of supply for electric cars. "We are completely open to dialogue, and also to discuss some form of royalty," says Remy Welschinger, CEO of the mining company, who is fighting in court and before public opinion to move forward with the project.
Infinity Lithium bought 75% of Extremadura Mining from Valoriza, a subsidiary of Sacyr, the company that in 2016 had been granted permission to extract lithium from the subsoil of Cáceres. The company, which has the right to buy the remaining 25% and which has signed agreements with battery manufacturers such as LG, found that the Junta de Extremadura canceled the permit.
"We have appealed the decision of the Board" before the Extremadura court of first instance and "we want to launch the project as soon as the situation is resolved," for which there is no fixed date, he explains. The legal mess has undated an operation whose start was scheduled for 2022.
Under the San José de Valdeflores area, Infinity Lithium calculates, there are 30,000 tons of lithium valued at 7,600 million over 26 years of exploitation. The price of lithium has increased fivefold, due to the sharp increase in demand for electric cars and renewables, which partly explains the interest in a project with planned investments of 530 million.
Welschinger insists on the "constructive company" attitude. “We have made substantial improvements to the project, which we will complement with an industrial development, with renewables and electric mobility. It will also be 100% underground. We have also taken on citizens' concerns and put them into context ”, he assures. The mine is only two kilometers from the city of Cáceres, but the company says that the rejection of the population has already dropped to 19%.
"We are legally certain that our rights will prevail," he says. Regarding royalties, he assures that "they are generally around 1%" of income and that "they can be negotiated as long as they do not affect economic viability."
