Name of the Project
Earl Grey lithium project.

Location
Earl Grey is located in Kidman’s Mt Holland gold and lithium tenements, located about 105 km south-south-east of Southern Cross, in the Yilgarn Mineral Field of Western Australia.

Client
Kidman Resources. In July Kidman announced a transaction with SQM, which will result in a 50:50 joint venture (JV) involving the Earl Grey project, in return for an investment by SQM of $110-million.

Project Description
A scoping study has examined a base case scenario at the project to produce a saleable concentrate for the export market.

Kidman has investigated a traditional processing flowsheet consisting of a two-million-tonne-a-year concentrator circuit that contains a three-stage crushing circuit, a primary dense-media separation (DMS) plant with coarse and fine circuits, a secondary (fines) DMS circuit and a flotation plant to treat the high-grade middlings from the second-stage DMS. Thickening and tailings disposal systems are also required.

Potential yearly production has been estimated at 288 000 t/y of 6% lithium concentrate over a life-of-mine of 25 years.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a base case pretax net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $861-million and an internal rate of return of 57%.

Value
Preproduction capital has been estimated at $111-million.

Duration
The project is expected to start construction in August 2018 and take 10 to 12 months to complete, with first production expected in the first quarter of the 2019/20 financial year.

Latest Developments
The positive results of the scoping study have highlighted the potential long life of the Earl Grey project beyond the initial 25 years envisioned. 

This long life may support an investment in downstream refining infrastructure to produce lithium carbonate.

Kidman has begun studies to assess this opportunity to add value and will provide an update on progress as information becomes available.

There are no ore reserves estimated at the project at this stage.

As part of the feasibility study update, the JV will convert indicated resources to ore reserves.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Kidman Resources, tel +61 3 9671 3801, fax +61 3 9671 3523 or email info@kidmanresources.com.au.