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PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Lithium hopeful Birimian has reported a number of cost cuts at its Goulamina project, in Mali, following the optimisation of the prefeasibility study (PFS).
Birimian on Tuesday reported that transport and handling costs have reduced by an estimated 47%, from $187/t to $100/t, while power costs could reduce by at least 25%, and fuel costs by about 15%.
The company had received advice from transport contractors regarding the reliability and capacity of Mali’s rail links to port, with the company taking the decision to replace the proposed hybrid road-rail transport model with a road-only transport model, to deliver the concentrate to port.
Birimian said that while plans have been announced to significantly upgrade the railway links from Mali to Senegal and between Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire, these projects would not be completed within a timeframe that would allow for consideration for the Goulamina project
The ASX-listed company told shareholders that the adoption of a road-only transport option would result in a capital cost saving of $3.1-million for the Goulamina project.
CEO Greg Walker said on Tuesday that as a result of the cost saving initiatives, Birimian was on track to meet its target of achieving an operating cost of less than $300/t in the revised PFS.
“The cost reductions identified to date will have a significant positive impact on our ability to deliver a highly competitive operation, making Goulamina one of the world’s leading low-cost hard rock lithium projects.”
“Our target was to reduce Goulamina’s C1 operating costs from $379/t to less than $300/t and we are very pleased to have outperformed this measure.”
The October PFS estimated a capital cost to develop the Goulamina project of 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.