Name of the Project
Arcadia lithium project.

Location
The project is located about 38 km east of Harare, in Zimbabwe.

Client
Prospect Resources.

Project Description
The results of a prefeasibility study (PFS) have confirmed and validated Prospect’s objective to develop the project into a significant producer of high-quality spodumene, petalite and tantalite concentrates in the near term.

The project has a maiden probable ore reserve estimated at 15.8-million tonnes grading 1.34% lithium oxide (Li₂O) and 125 parts per million (ppm) tantalum pentoxide.

The probable reserve forms the basis of a standalone 1.2-million-tonne-a-year mining and processing operation, with a 15-year life-of-mine (LoM), producing on average 75 000 t/y spodumene and 155 000 t/y petalite concentrates for the battery (chemical) and glass/ceramics (technical) markets.

Run-of-mine material will be extracted through an operation that will feed a process facility, which will use standard communition, dense-media separation, flotation and gravity techniques to recover spodumene, petalite and tantalite concentrates, as well as silica sand and mica as by-products. Lithia and tantalite concentrates will be bulk-transported to Beira for onward shipping to downstream customers. 

Any by-products will supply the domestic industrials markets in Zimbabwe.

The mining method is based on six nested sequential openpits – 1a, 1b, 2, 3, 4 and 5. The final pit – Pit 5 – will be about 1.1 km × 750 m, with a maximum depth of 130 m on the final high-wall. The total surface area of Pit 5 will be about 0.55 km².

Mining operations will be conducted using a contracted fleet for key equipment, with the prospect of supplying some ancillary vehicles. Ore and waste will be handled by diesel hydraulic excavators and articulated dump trucks. 

Ore will be trucked to the crushing station, where it will be directly dumped into the primary crusher or stockpiled before front-end loader feeding. 

Waste material comprising meta basalt and some pegmatites will require blasting, except for some of the very upper weathered rocks.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $139-million and an internal rate of return of 39%, with a payback of two years.

Value
The project will require capital expenditure of $52.5-million.

Duration
The PFS envisages a nine-month lead time to production, with plant commissioning in the third quarter of 2018.

Latest Developments
Prospect Resources’ flagship Arcadia lithium project has been identified as a priority mining development by Zimbabwe’s Office of the President and Cabinet.

The project has been selected following the new Zimbabwean government’s directive that the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development identify certain projects under the rapid results initiative’s first 100 days programme.

Meanwhile, Prospect Resources announced that it had produced ultrahigh purity 99.8% lithium carbonate from Arcadia petalite ore. A purity of 99.5% lithium carbonate is required for battery-grade lithium carbonate. As the purity level increases, more potential product applications become available and possible pricing rises.

The testwork process was based on conventional methods of extraction of lithium from petalite concentrate followed by enhanced solution purification techniques to produce a high-grade intermediate lithium carbonate ahead of ultimate purification.

Prospect is establishing a lithium carbonate pilot plant in Zimbabwe using the same production techniques used to generate these results.

The company is also preparing a PFS for a lithium carbonate and hydroxide plant fed by the entire Li₂O mineral concentrate production of the
Arcadia mine. The scope of this PFS has been amended to take into consideration a conditional placement and framework agreement with Sinomine. It is now expected that this PFS will be completed in the first quarter of 2018.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Hatch (PFS for lithium carbonate and hydroxide plant).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Prospect Resources, tel +61 8 9217 3300, fax +61 8 9388 3006 or email info@prospectresources.com.au.