US$63m raised for Karibib Lithium Project's lithium concentrator

 

Lepidico Ltd, which partly owns the Karibib Lithium Project, says they received a capital cost estimate of US$63m for the concentrator at the Erongo mine.

The company said they also received another capital cost estimate of US$203m for the chemical plant planned for Abu Dhabi.

The Australian Stock Exchange-listed company acquired an 80% stake from Desert Lion Energy Namibia. Five shareholders own the other 20% under the name !Huni.

A 2012 mineral resource estimate for the Karibib Project is 11.24 Mt @ 0.43% Li2O. 

Karibib Lithium Project, about 220km from Walvis bay, was touted as Namibia's first large-scale lithium mine in 2018 when Desert Lion Energy filed a technical report with plans for a concentrator.

Desert Lion also envisaged setting up a plant to produce about 20 000t of battery-grade lithium carbonate per year.

The concentrator processes 333,000tpa ((tonnes per hour on a dry basis) of the ore for the first four years and 541,000tpa (dry basis) from the fifth year of production. 

The mineral concentrator will crush, grind, and deslime lithium ore using the froth flotation process followed by the dewatering of concentrate and tailings streams. 

Once the lithium concentrate has been acquired, the company says, it will be bagged and containerised to prevent contamination during its journey to Abu Dhabi for chemical conversion. 

Lepidico Ltd says they will use five trucks per day to transport the concentrate bags to the port of Walvis Bay, about 220km from the mine. The concentrate will be shipped from Walvis Bay to the Khalifa container port in Abu Dhabi. 

The conversion plant has a concentrate capacity of 6.9tph, producing 5,600tpa (tonnes per annual). The estimated yearly output over the project life is about 4,500tpa of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate plus a proportion of out-of-specification material and a suite of value add by-products. 

Over the first 10 years, the project is expected to achieve average annual production of 235t caesium sulfate (salt basis), 1,400t rubidium sulfate (salt), 6,900t SOP and 33,000t of amorphous silica. 

Some 130,000tpa of gypsum-rich residue will also be produced, which is planned to be sold as a construction material and soil conditioning agent.

According to the company, Phase 1 provides solid financial returns with a base case net present value at an 8% discount rate of US$530 million, exceeding development capital by nearly 100% after contingency allowance. 

Lepidico managing director Joe Walsh said the completion of the control estimates and schedules represents a significant milestone in the advancement of the Phase 1 Project, allowing critical path lender technical due diligence to complete. 

"It is also gratifying to see that the significant capital cost inflation – a result of a global phenomenon – has been more than offset by higher lithium price forecasts, predicated on market fundamentals that continue to improve as energy transition momentum grows. 

"Lepidico's Phase 1 Project represents a unique development opportunity for producing four valuable alkali metal streams, lithium, caesium, rubidium and potassium," Walsh said.

OFFTAKE DEAL

In December 2021, Lepidico announced signing a seven-year offtake deal for all its lithium with Traxys for the Phase one project.

The Luxembourg-based Traxys finances mining companies, markets, and distributes metals.

The deal makes Traxys the principal providing sales, marketing, logistics and finances. In addition, Traxys will manage the production of 400t of caesium sulfate per year.

After sealing the deal, Walsh said Traxys' business is an excellent fit with Lepidico's target markets and the critical strategic products of lithium hydroxide and caesium sulfate.

"Traxys' experience in the market development of critical minerals and relevant established customer relationships in public and private sectors provides an excellent profile as a long-term partner for Lepidico," Walsh said.