Name of the Project
Ewoyaa lithium project.

Location
Ghana.

Project Owner/s
Aim-listed lithium explorer and developer Atlantic Minerals. Piedmont has an earn-in right of 50% of Atlantic’s Ghanaian projects, including Ewoyaa, and the company holds a 10% equity interest in Atlantic Lithium.

Project Description
A prefeasibility study (PFS) has delivered robust project economics. The project includes the Ewoyaa, Abonko and Kaampakrom deposits.

The project has probable ore reserves of 18.9-million tonnes grading 1.24% lithium oxide.

A contract mining operation is proposed, owing to an abundance of experienced, well-established local contractors in Ghana.

The PFS envisages an openpit mining operation with a 12.5-year mine life, which includes a two-million-tonne-a-year conventional dense-media separation processing facility producing about 255 000 t/y of 6% lithium spodumene concentrate (SC6). Life-of-mine production is estimated at 3.18-million tonnes.

In addition to SC6 production, the PFS incorporates two additional revenue streams from by-products – a saleable direct shipping ore (DSO) fines product and a saleable feldspar by-product.

DSO is estimated at 3.74-million tonnes and feldspar at 4.12-million tonnes.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $1.33-million and an internal rate of return of 224%, with a payback of less than five months.

Capital Expenditure
Capital expenditure has increased from $70-million in the scoping study to $125-million in the PFS, as a result of the crushing being done in house as opposed to outsourcing it.

Planned Start/End Date
The proposed project development programme targets first production of SC6 in the third quarter of 2024, based on receiving a mining licence in the third quarter of 2023, which, in turn, is subject to meeting all statutory requirements.

Latest Developments
Atlantic Lithium has received final assay results from the resource and exploration drilling programme completed at the Ewoyaa lithium project, with drilling continuing to deliver high-grade drill intersections outside the current mineral resources estimate.

Final assay results have been received for a further 10 052 m of exploration and infill diamond core and reverse circulation drilling completed at Ewoyaa, which are part of the now completed resource evaluation and exploration reverse circulation and diamond core programme.

Newly reported assay results confirm new mineralised pegmatites at the Grasscutter North, Kaampakrom North and Assan targets, outside the currently defined 30.1-million tonnes at 1.26% lithium oxide Ewoyaa Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant MRE.

Multiple high-grade drill intersections have been reported at the Kaampakrom North, Grasscutter North, Anokyi and Grasscutter West targets.

All assay results  have now been reported for the 47 000 m drilling programme completed.

A resource upgrade is being targeted for the first quarter 2023 to inform the definitive feasibility study, which is targeted for completion in mid-2023.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Ashmore Advisory (resource modelling); Mining Focus Consultants (pit optimisation and mine scheduling); NAGROM (beneficiation testwork); ANSTO (conversion testwork); Trinol (process interpretation and design); Zivvo and Trinol (operating and capital costs, and cash flow modelling); Primero (site layouts and front-end engineering design); and First Test Minerals (industrial mineral marketing).

Contact Details for Project Information
Atlantic Minerals, tel +61 2 8072 0640 or email info@atlanticlithium.com.au.