Name of the Project
Manono lithium/tin project.

Location
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Project Owner/s
AVZ Minerals, in joint venture (JV) with Dathomir Mining.

Project Description
A definitive feasibility study (DFS) has confirmed the project’s outstanding metrics. The project has total ore reserves of 93-million tonnes grading 1.58% lithium oxide and 988 g/t tin.

The DFS has shown the project to be robust and viable, and envisages conventional openpit mining, producing about 700 000 t/y of high-grade lithium and 45 475 t/y of primary lithium sulphate over a 20-year mine life.

The project has a life-of-mine beyond 20 years, based on a 4.5-million-tonne-a-year operation underpinned by the ore reserves.

Potential Job Creation
Construction is expected to create 400 to 450 jobs, with 500 to 550 jobs expected to be created in the long term.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value on a 100% basis, at a 10% discount rate, of $2.35-billion and an internal rate of return of 53.15%, with a payback of 1.5 years.

Capital Expenditure
Initial construction capital is estimated at $545.5-million, including a 10% contingency.

Planned Start/End Date
Production is expected to start in the first quarter of 2022, subject to Covid-19.

Latest Developments
An independent study of the Manono project has found that it is likely to have one of the lowest carbon footprints of any global hard rock lithium project.

The greenhouse-gas assessment, completed by Environmental Resource Management, evaluated the Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions associated with the operation over its 20-year mine life.

The low carbon footprint expected at Manono is owing to AVZ’s strategic location, adjacent to the Mpiana Mwanga hydroelectric power plant, which, once refurbished, is expected to provide for all the project’s electricity requirements.

“We will continue to strive towards improving our greenhouse-gas emissions profile as we develop the world-class Manono project,” AVZ MD Nigel Ferguson has said.

“Ultimately, we want to see the electricity generated from the Mpiana Mwanga hydroelectric power plant used to operate all our mining equipment, making the Manono project a 100% ‘green’ mine. Any surplus power may be provided for the national grid for use in the town of Manono,” he adds.

In addition to using hydroelectric power, AVZ is also investigating and planning greenhouse-gas mitigation measures, which include the acquisition of an electric mining fleet once it is commercially viable, the generation of hydrogen from excess renewable electricity to allow for the use of fuel cell electric vehicles, and the establishment of a 5 000 ha sequestration plantation.

The company’s plans to transition to an electric mining fleet should reduce greenhouse-gas emissions at Manono by about 29 404 t/y of carbon dioxide equivalent

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
GR Engineering Services (process plant); PAIE (metallurgical testwork consultants); ALS (metallurgical testwork laboratories); Coppern (high-pressure grinding rolls original-equipment manufacturer); Steinhart (ore sorting original-equipment manufacturer); Middindi Consultants (geotechnical study); RD Consultants (hydrogeology and hydrology); CSA Global (resources-to-reserves study and mine development); ERM (mine closure plan); CONSI (operational readiness); L&MGSPL (tail­ings storage facility); Dynamic IT (information technology systems); Infraology (technical rail due diligence); Roskill (marketing survey); Graeme Campbell and Associates (geoscience); EmiAfrica (economic- and social-impact assess­ment); FTI Consulting (financial modelling); KCS Mining (mine contractor costing); Increva (project management consultants); Nexus Bonum (ore sorting consultants); iSpatial (geographic infor­mation system mapping); and Wisedesign (hydroelectric power plant DFS).

Contact Details for Project Information
AVZ Minerals, tel + 61 8 6117 9397 or email admin@avzminerals.com.au.