PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Barring bad weather or Covid-19-related delays, the Finniss lithium project, in the Northern Territory, is on track to ship its first spodumene concentrate by the end of the year.
ASX-listed Core Lithium on Tuesday reported that mining activities had accelerated with the arrival of the dry season and the commissioning of an additional excavator and trucks to site.
Early-stage mining operations at the Grants openpit were impacted by materially higher rainfall and an extended wet season resulting in a temporary increase in fuel consumption and delays in openpit mining. However, Core noted that the arrival of the dry season and the commissioning of the additional excavator and trucks to the site had allowed mining to accelerate.
Contractor CSI Mining Services has started mobilisation to the site as planned, following the award of a crushing services contract, and the dense media separation (DMS) site handover to Primero is now complete, and construction activities have commenced.
The DMS plant structural steel was sourced from Shanghai and, owing to Covid-19 restrictions in Shanghai, delays were experienced with the manufacture and delivery of the structural steel. Primero has now successfully facilitated the export of the steel and all DMS components are now on the water, or located in Western Australia or the Northern Territory, and ready for transport to Finniss.
"The Finniss project is progressing well with Lucas, CSI and Primero all on site. Practical completion of the new administration and IT complex will allow staff to spend more time at the operation and should lead to productivity improvements in simply reducing travel time alone,” said chairperson Greg English.
"The submission of the BP33 underground mine management plan was a great achievement with formal approval anticipated from the Northern Territory government in the coming months.”
Government approval for the BP33 underground mine is a two-stage process, and formal approval is anticipated in the September 2022 quarter. The Grants openpit will be the initial source of ore for the DMS plant until BP33 and other mines are bought online.
The Stage 1 Finniss project, comprising an openpit operation and underground operation, will require an initial capital investment of A$89-million to support yearly lithium production of 175 000 t/y from a one-million-tonne-a-year plant.