PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A prefeasibility study (PFS) has found that the Goulamina lithium project, in Mali, could be in production by early 2021, with construction set to start in mid-2019, ASX-listed Birimian reported.
The PFS considered four development scenarios, based on the size of the pit design combined with varying throughput options. These scenarios included a one-million-tonne-a-year operation, a two-million-tonne-a-year operation, a hybrid option starting at a one-million-tonne-a-year throughput for the first four years of production after which it would increase to two-million tonnes a year.
The estimated capital cost to develop the Goulamina project ranges between $86.9-million and $142-million, with the net present value ranging between $85.6-million and $126.4-million. The PFS also estimated that subject to the development option preferred, the project life could range between 9 and 14 years, with the mine processing between 14-million tonnes and 20.6-million tonnes of ore.
Project revenues will range between $1.68-billion for the first development scenario, and $2.39-billion for the fourth scenario.
“The PFS demonstrates that Goulamina is potentially a robust project, both technically and economically, based on the current indicated mineral resource,” Birimian executive director and CEO Greg Walker said on Wednesday.
“The recent shallow-hole drilling results delineating additional lithium-bearing pegmatite anomalies at Yando, Sabali and Danaya have highlighted the exploration potential of the project area. The forthcoming drilling programme on these targets may increase the project’s mineral resource base, which, in turn, would redefine and enhance the preferred development strategy.”