PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Argosy Minerals has been granted approval for the development of the next stage of work at its Rincon lithium project, in Argentina.
The government of Salta, and its regulatory bodies, have approved Argosy’s environmental impact report (EIR) for the development of a 2 000 t/y lithium process plant and subsequent lithium production operations at Rincon, along with all associated work.
“We are grateful to the Salta Province regulatory authorities, especially the Secretary of Mining and Energy, who officially approved our EIR. This is now an exciting period for Argosy and Puna to become the first commercial lithium producer in Salta Province, and progress towards full development of our Rincon project,” said Argosy MD Jerko Zuvela.
He said that the company would now further escalate ongoing discussions with a number of potential capital providers for the processing plant capital requirements, with the EIR approval removing a major hurdle towards securing funding.
The construction of the processing plant is expected to cost some $14.3-million, and will take 12 to 15 months to complete.
Argosy is currently scheduling a preliminary trial cargo comprising some 5 t of high-quality lithium carbonate produced from its industrial-scale pilot plant operations for the first quarter of this year, delivering into a sales agreement executive with Mitsubishi Corporation in March last year.