Australia's next lithium producer Global Lithium Resources has greatly improved the economics of its Manna lithium project, in Western Australia, having undertaken a Manna-Nova operation integration study to incorporate its newly acquired Nova processing plant.

The study evaluated an integrated development in which ore mined at the Manna mine will be hauled 135 km by road to the Nova processing facility where it will be treated through a modified 1.8-million-tonne-a-year flotation plant.

The Nova plant acquisition removes the need to construct a brand new concentrator and associated infrastructure at Manna, which was the single-largest capital item in the mine's definitive feasibility study (DFS).

In fact, the addition of the Nova plant bolsters the Manna project's after-tax net present value to A$946-million, marking a 100% improvement on the project's 2025 DFS.

Manna also has an expanded internal rate of return of 120%, compared to 25.7% in the DFS. The payback period has reduced to 11 months from production start, down from 3.5 years in the DFS.

"The study confirms the assessment we made when we moved on Nova in July. Combining Manna's lithium resources with existing, commissioned processing infrastructure has changed both the economics and timeline of this project," says Global Lithium Resources MD Dianmin Chen.

He adds that converting an operating plant instead of building one from the ground up brings Manna into production sooner and with materially less capital at risk. Just as importantly, the value uplift here has not come from taking on more risk – it has come from removing it. "Less capital deployed, a shorter path to first revenue, and infrastructure that is already built, commissioned and operating."

The required pre-production funding has reduced to A$180-million, down 59% from the original A$439-million figure in the DFS. Global Lithium Resources agreed to spend A$7-million to acquire the Nova operation and its future site rehabilitation liabilities.

A final investment decision for the Manna project is on track for the last quarter of the year, ahead of first lithium production in 2027.

Over a mine life of 13 years, Manna will produce 257 000 t/y of SC5 spodumene concentrate.