PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed General Mining Corporation has signed a sales and distribution agreement with Japanese major Mitsubishi Corporation for all of the lithium-bearing spodumene concentrate produced at the Mt Cattlin project, in Western Australia.
Under the terms of the agreement, Mitsubishi would have the exclusive right to sell 100% of the spodumene concentrate produced at Mt Cattlin into four countries – China, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Mitsubishi would act as principal buyer for the spodumene concentrate and would use reasonable endeavours to obtain the best selling price for all of the concentrate.
The agreement would run for an initial four-year term, with an option for a one-year extension, subject to mutual agreement.
General Mining on Wednesday said the agreement represented an integral step in the company’s development of the Mt Cattlin project, given Mitsubishi’s tier one status as an international trading house and its substantial presence in the region.
“We are delighted to have secured Mitsubishi as a partner for up to 100% of our Mt Cattlin spodumene product. This binding agreement with an international tier one trading house offers exclusive and unrivalled access in four priority markets where demand for battery-grade spodumene concentrate is robust,” executive chairperson Michael Fotios added.
“Importantly, it marks another key milestone in our pathway to production at Mt Cattlin, targeted for commencement in the first quarter of 2016.”
Earlier this year,General Mining Corporation inked an agreement with fellow-listed Galaxy Resources to acquire a 50% stake in the mine for A$25-million.
Based on the current mineral resource and ore reserve estimates at Mt Cattlin, a recently completed independent review estimated that the project could deliver some 11 500 t/y of spodumene over an initial 17-year mine life. The project was estimated to require a capital investment of A$14.7-million to restart and could generate a life-of-mine revenue of A$1.16-billion and a net cash flow of A$526-million.
The project was expected to have a throughput rate of 800 000 t/y and would produce an additional 85 924 t of tantalite.