Response to Mr Plough:
'6 countries from port???' What???
Total misinformation!
Our two main routes are outlined below and it does not go through 6 countries.
and 'Are there train lines in place yet?' yes there are transport routes
, train lines and roads in place. 'Middle of nowhere???'
More misinformation! .....The DRC has 11 major economic transport corridors that facilitate trade flows in the region while connecting with Central Africa, South Africa and East Africa. Also major international companies like Glencore and Ivanhoe have big tier one mines of copper and cobalt in the DRC and have been successfully transporting their product out of the DRC for years!
I would be far more worried about CXO with their tiny postage stamp deposit and output
because in the end what matters is size as it translates to output and NPV and that is why AVZ because of its size has the potential to one day control lithium pricing and supply! It has not been called the Saudi Arabia of lithium for nothing!
BTW if you bothered to do some research the DRC is planning to have batteries made in the DRC. It is way cheaper to build batteries in the DRC and a lot more profitable than in China and the United States. Also transport costs will be redundant because AVZ lithium will be going directly into the batteries.
In the recent Belgian Economic and Trade Mission DRC Industrial Minister Julien Paluku stated, I quote:
"
I had to present the results of a Bloomberg study which showed that as we are in the ecological and energy transition, the best destination in the world today in terms of battery manufacturing is the DRC because when you invest there, you earn THREE TIMES MORE than in China and the United States”
AVZ will also be producing primary lithium sulphate, a refined value added lithium product and the precursor to hydroxide. This product greatly reduces transport costs.
to quote AVZ MD Nigel Ferguson:
“The sweet spot for us is that we will be producing primary lithium sulphate (PLS).“SC6 is 6% lithium, 94% waste, whereas our PLS is going to be 96% lithium, 4% waste. We won’t be shipping anywhere near as much waste around the globe – saving on transport and saving on those impending taxes and disposal costs on the other end.”
BTW AVZ are also planning a lithium hydroxide plant so further valued adding in refinement to lithium hydroxide.
Also with the
32.8 billion secured for African development projects from the Africa Development fund,
including a mammoth 545 million for the AVZ lithium project -
PRESS HERE upgrading transport infrastructure transport costs will be halved, not to mention all the credits AVZ will get for having the 3rd largest tin resource, let alone the enormous NPV from size and output of the world's largest lithium resource.(economy of scale)
To quote President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina regarding funding for transport infrastructure:
“will support 75 per cent of West African trade, impact the lives of over 500 million people, reduce transport cost across the sub-region by 48 per cent and increase intra-regional trade by 15 to 25 per cent!
Also the DRC has just joined the EAC(East African Community). This will open the corridor from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean as well as north and south expanding the economic potential of the region to expand markets for goods, services and infrastructure including upgrading transport corridors.
AIMO
P.S.
ZAMBIA, DRC AIM TO DEVELOP ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERIES
JOSHUA JERE
MARCH 9, 2022
Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo -DRC – are poised to benefit from a combined trade strategy in the development of a robust Battery Electric Vehicle and Renewable Energy Value Chain, the first of its kind in Africa.
Once completed the programme will employ thousands of Congolese and Zambians and will also boost the two countries economy.
And President HAKAINDE HICHILEMA says the DRC – Zambia joint working group on the initiative to produce battery precursors, is progressing well.
The President says this is the economic diplomacy that ZAMBIA has been talking about and soon the results will begin to show.
And President HICHILEMA hosted a delegation from the DRC at State House, that was led by that Country’s Finance Minister KAZADI KADIMA- NDUJI NICOLAS, to among other matters follow through on the deliberations of the DRC – Africa Business Forum held last year in Kinshasa.
In November last year, DRC President FELIX TSHISEKEDI invited ZAMBIA to a round table multi – stakeholder Business Forum, to foster the development of a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) and Renewable Energy Value Chain and Market in Africa.
President HICHILEMA says the DRC and Zambia hold more than 70 percent of the World’s cobalt and copper reserves and yet despite this smart mineral value chain, the two countries only capture 3 percent of the global battery and Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) value chain.
