Aim- and ASX-listed Atlantic Lithium is making "excellent" progress in moving toward shovel-readiness at the company's flagship Ewoyaa lithium project, in Ghana, says CEO Keith Muller.
"The permitting phase is well under way, with active engagement with local stakeholders within and surrounding the project's lease area. In October, we held the inaugural Community Consultative Committee meeting, whereby we welcomed the open discussion of how the project can benefit the local community.
"Ever since the company began operating in Ghana, the local population has shown incredible backing for the project, and this continues even as we near construction," he adds.
Atlantic has been awarded a bulk customer permit in respect of the electricity requirements at Ewoyaa. This is expected to deliver a 30% to 50% overall power cost reduction for the project.
Further, advanced discussions for the award of the engineering, procurement, construction and management contract for the main processing plant and all non-processing infrastructure are ongoing.
Atlantic will soon start the tender stage for the procurement of a mobile crusher to feed the modular dense media separation (DMS) unit, while the tender process to appoint a mining contractor is under way.
The company also expects to award a contract to divert the transmission lines crossing the project site in the second quarter of 2024.
Work is also under way with engineering, procurement and construction firm Mincore to assess the potential of establishing a downstream lithium conversion plant in Ghana, as agreed under the terms of the grant of the mining lease for the project.
A flotation scoping study has also been finalised.
"As anticipated, the results of the flotation scoping study support the viability of processing both the fines and the middlings materials through flotation, as well as the potential to achieve significantly enhanced recovery of the P2 finer-grained pegmatite material.
"The results firmly confirm the company's case for the inclusion of a flotation circuit, which will operate independently and downstream from the main DMS plant. Construction and integration of the circuit will be carried out post the main processing plant achieving a 2.7-million-tonne annualised steady-state throughput," Muller comments.
"In line with the terms agreed under the grant of the mining lease, work on both the feldspar and downstream conversion studies is progressing at pace. Concurrently, discussions are under way with a number of parties with regard to commercial contracts that are critical to the development of the project, with updates expected on each of these over the coming months," he adds.
Atlantic expects to make a final investment decision at Ewoyaa once it receives approval from the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency and is granted a mine operating permit.