Running discussion on SP, page-50581

*Ditto Bro

Have you heard It appears that,

Lithium, lithium, lithium, lithium, lithium, lithium.

Is back in favour, is the "Flavour of the Month" Year, probably Decade atm

*Now some of you won't like what you're about to see below, I get that, but all i'm doing is "Comparing ASX Apples to other varieties of ASX Apples" so if you don't like Apples, look away now, keep in mind it's in relation to the Post above and where AVZ now sits on the World Stage in relation to all things Lithium related, where we're headed and what's unfolding around us atm, some similarities with other African players and how they're "Playing the Game" in the Grand scheme of things, as

Monsters of Rock: Lithium’s the word as battery metals stocks party on

Investors are going batty for the EV ingredient in 2021 and IGO put a rocket up the big lithium miners again today after announcing first lithium hydroxide production from its Kwinana plant.

The first chemicals produced by IGO and majority JV partner Tianqi at the Talison lithium plant signals the start of Australia’s future as a downstream supplier of lithium chemicals.

Our miners had, til now been following the general modus operandi of Australian miners by digging the stuff up, beneficiating it and shipping it to China for conversion.

All three major chemical plants in construction or commissioning now have partial Australian ownership.

The next cab off the rank will be the Kemerton facility owned 60-40 by America’s Albemarle and Chris Ellison’s Mineral Resources, while Wesfarmers recently gave the green light to its Mt Holland mine and Kwinana chemicals plant with Chile’s SQM.

IGO shares soared almost 5% on the news, which comes not long after it completed the $1.9 billion deal that gave it a 49% stake in the Kwinana plant and 25% of Greenbushes in WA’s South West, the biggest hard rock lithium in the world.

There is a long ramp up phase to come for IGO and Tianqi, with sellable product due in the December Quarter and battery grade product for accreditation in March 2022.

The ramp up of the first train at Kwinana to its 24,000tpa nameplate capacity is due by the end of 2022.

With the ramp up period ahead RBC analyst Kaan Peker warned it could be a while before IGO is making dough from the plant.

Battery metals dancing on air

Battery metals stocks drove gains across the mid cap and smaller large cap space.

Lithium prices have climbed again with high purity carbonate more than 10% up over the last week.

The spodumene reference price was around 27% higher month on month at the end of the month with 6% concentrate fetching US$880-950/t, up from US$690-750/t in June.

That doesn’t even come close to the single 10,000t basket Pilbara Minerals sold last month on its Battery Material Exchange platform for US$1250/t.

Prices were under US$400/t in October last year.

Pilbara stock continued its merry dance, rising 11.14% to 3.45PM AEST.

Its shares are almost 600% up on this time last year.

Euro lithium and renewable energy play Vulcan Energy was up almost $1.50 or 12% plus to $13.57.

As battery metals boom, Prospect Resources seeks a partner for one of the world’s best lithium developments

In the midst of a bullish lithium market Prospect Resources is clearing a pathway to production, announcing it is on the lookout for a partner to develop and fund its high-grade Arcadia Lithium Mine in Zimbabwe.

Prospect says the start of the process has come off the back of “multiple enquiries” from “a range of international parties” in relation to the project’s funding and development.

It is believed the process would provide more flexibility and pace to market than traditional methods like debt or equity, with Azure Capital and Vermilion Partners being handed the mandate.

There has been a flurry of corporate activity in the lithium industry over recent months.

Prices have stormed higher at a rate of knots as the supply-demand balance has tipped back in favour of producers.

Last week alone, high purity lithium carbonate chemical prices rose 10.3%, according to Fastmarkets, while spodumene concentrate was up 27.1% between June and July.

China’s dominant lithium player Ganfeng has set the tone for this recently, buying into projects and taking equity stakes in ASX-listed companies Core Lithium and Firefinch.

Prospect director Sam Hosack said Arcadia had received interest from ‘key players’ for what is one of Africa and the world’s most advanced large-scale hard rock lithium developments.

“We are excited with the interest from key players in the lithium sector and look forward to working with Azure and Vermilion to find the right long term partner for the funding and development of the Arcadia Mine,” he said.
Optimised feasibility studies on their way

Prospect is currently optimising a definitive feasibility study, with contractors Lycopodium looking into two options.

The first is a two-stage development with a run rate of 2.4 million tonnes per annum via the development of two 1.2Mtpa with a lower initial capital intensity.

The second is a single stage development that provides greater efficiencies and economic returns at a higher initial cost.

The studies will be completed in the September and December quarters, respectively.

The Arcadia project in Zimbabwe contains an overall mineral resource of 72.7 million tonnes at 1.11% lithium oxide and 119 parts per million tantalum pentoxide for 807,800t of Li2O and 19.1Mlbs of Ta2O5 at a 0.2%Li20 cutoff grade.

Within that is a high grade zone with a 1% cut off of 43.2Mt at 1.41% Li2O and 119ppm Ta2O5 for 610,500t of Li20 and 11.3Mlb of Ta2O5, and an ore reserve of 37.4Mt at 1.22% Li2O and 121ppm Ta2O5 for 457,000t of contained Li2O and 10Mlb of TaO5.

The project’s DFS was updated in 2019, outlining a low-cost project with a pre-tax internal rate of return of 71% and payback within 18 months of first production.

The DFS mapped an estimated 15.5-year initial mine life – a substantial project of note in a country where lithium potential is largely untapped.

Located close to the capital of Harare, Prospect has been producing petalite through a pilot plant in Zimbabwe since the middle of the year, and has long-term offtake partners secured.

Last month the company upped its stake from 70% to 87% by issuing about 9.5 million shares and $1.2m cash to vendor Farvic Consolidated Mines.




Remember, "All Apples aren't created Equally"

Some are unloved or left on the Tree to fully Ripen

Some people just refuse to Buy Fruit from the DRC

Food for thought - Apples

Frank