A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of Canadian junior explorer Tantalex Lithium’s majority-owned Manono lithium tailings project, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, shows a robust pre-tax net present value (NPV) 10% of about $764-million and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 87.4% on a nominal basis.

The PEA also shows a pre-tax NPV of about $638-million and an 82.3% IRR on a real basis.

It indicates a rapid payback of one year after first production using a life-of-mine (LoM) spodumene concentrate price of $2 800/t, as forecast by international price reporting agency Fastmarkets.

This project capital cost estimate is $147.7-million including contingencies.

The LoM is six years, with estimated production of 112 000 t/y of spodumene concentrate.

The PEA outlines a low-risk plant operation and tailings reclamation.

It showcases ready-to-use tailings dump resources to feed the beneficiation plant with minimum cost of mining, crushing, grinding and processing.

The process plant nameplate capacity is 1.26-million tonnes a year of run-of-mine ore based on a robust flowsheet using learnings from other lithium producers.

A number of opportunities have been identified to improve capital and operating costs and plant capacity.

The exploration programme is being finalised with a focus on increasing indicated resources and extending the life of the project.

“This PEA is perfectly aligned with the results of our maiden resource report filed in January. It was our decision to focus our efforts on completing this PEA as a priority, which now allows us to progress on our feasibility and environmental- and social-impact assessment studies.

“We have sized the project scope in order to use existing infrastructures but as the Manono region develops into an important lithium mining region, we are confident that energy and logistics costs will significantly reduce,” comments president and CEO Eric Allard.

He adds that the company will continue to pursue its resource definition works to increase the LoM on both the tailings property and its highly prospective hard-rock lithium pegmatite corridor.