PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed miner Orocobre is expecting to produce between 2 400 t and 2 500 t of lithium carbonate in the three months to June, on the back of severe weather conditions in Argentina and Chile.
This production expectation compares with the 2 784 t of lithium carbonate produced in the three months to March, with Orocobre on Friday saying full-year production is now expected to reach between 11 700 t and 11 800 t.
Production at the Olaroz lithium facility, in Argentina, was suspended for three days last week after on site stock of soda ash was depleted, and heavy snowfall forced the closure of the main access route across the Andes for a period of three weeks.
Conditions have now improved and the pass has been reopened, allowing for soda ash stocks to be replenished.
Orocobre on Friday said that the weather conditions also impacted the evaporation rates at the Olaroz facility, resulting in lower harvest pond concentrations and lower-than-expected production rates. The weather conditions also resulted in a short-term backlog of exports held at site, which has now been cleared.
“The conditions this year have been severe with the first snow starting in April, which is most unusual,” said Orocobre MD and CEO Richard Seville.
“Our planning saw us holding the maximum level of possible consumables with additional contingency measures in place, however, it was not sufficient to see us through this extreme event.”
Seville noted that while the weather conditions have had a short-term impact on production, shipment schedule and brine evaporation rates, the overall process of re-profiling the pond brine inventory is developing as expected.