The mining company AVZ Minerals obtained a favourable technical opinion at the beginning of this week from the Ministry of Mines. This is the last step before the acquisition of a Manono Lithium operating license and certification. These last two steps will pave the way for the production of this strategic mineral.
AVZ Minerals had been waiting for the technical opinion for more than a year. According to the representative of this Australian company in the DRC, AVZ had already obtained the favorable opinion of the Ministry of the Environment. And this, after the presentation of the study on the environmental impact as well as the Feasibility Study. In addition, the mining cadastre had expressed itself on this project by also giving its favourable opinion. Another condition before the granting of an operating permit, the company must prove its financial capacity to develop the mining project. All these conditions were already met. In fact, at the beginning of April, AVZ Minerals received new funding of US$7 million for the Manondo project. This is in addition to its investment valued at US$545.5 million.
Production is for 2023
It must be said that the company AVZ plans to start its production of Lithium in 2023. However, it has not yet started construction work on its plant. Despite everything, the company remains optimistic "" This work will begin after obtaining the operating permit. And the first phase of construction will only take 8 months," Baltazar Tshiseke, AVZ Minerals' representative in the DRC, said three months ago.
In the meantime, the company has finalized its feasibility study. The results indicate that the company would produce 700,000 tons of Lithium per year. Thus, it has already concluded three production purchase agreements, including with the Chinese companies Shenzhen Chengxin Litium Group Co. and Yibin Tianyi Litium Industry Co. Ltd. The latter is one of the world's leading producers of battery materials.
With Denise Maheho
