Name of the Project
Manono lithium/tin project.

Location
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Project Owner/s
Mineral exploration company 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
AVZ Minerals has signed a binding offtake agreement with shareholder Yibin Tianyi Lithium Industry Co for the supply of spodumene concentrate from the Manono lithium and tin project.

Yibin Tianyi has agreed to buy up to 20 000 t/y of spodumene concentrate for an initial three-year term following the start of production, with an option to extend the offtake agreement for an additional two years.

“This agreement takes our spodumene concentrate binding offtake commitments to more than 80% of the project’s annual production, which is a massive endorsement for the Manono project, and one that satisfies an important condition precedent for our prospective project financiers,” AVZ MD Nigel Ferguson has said.

AVZ previously signed an offtake agreement with a subsidiary of China’s biggest lithium compounds producer, Gangfeng Lithium, for the sale of up to 160 000 t/y of spodumene concentrate over an initial five-year period, with an option for a further five-year extension.

The company has also signed a three-year, 6 000 t/y tin concentrate offtake agreement with Kalon Resources over the Manono project.

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.