Name of the Project
Piedmont lithium project.

Location
The project is located in the Carolina tin-spodumene belt in North Carolina, in the US.

Client
Piedmont Lithium.

Project Description
The vertically integrated Piedmont lithium project includes a lithium hydroxide chemical plant supplied with spodumene concentrate from an openpit mine and concentrator.

The project has a maiden mineral resource estimate of 16.2-million tonnes grading 1.12% lithium oxide (Li₂O). The project will be developed in stages.

Envisaged is a 22 700 t/y chemical plant supported by a mine/concentrator producing 170 000 t/y of 6% Li₂O spodumene concentrate.

Included in the study is the production of by-product quartz (99 000 t/y), feldspar (125 000 t/y) and mica (15 500 t/y), which will provide credits for the cost of lithium production. The by-product mineral resource comprises 4.9-million tonnes of quartz, 6.8-million tonnes of feldspar and 1.6-million tonnes of mica. Production has been targeted at about 13.3-million tonnes at an average run-of-mine grade over an initial 13-year mine life, with two years of spodumene concentrate sales and 11 years of integrated sales.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an estimated net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $888-million and an after-tax internal rate of return of 46%, with an estimated payback of two years.

Value
Initial capital expenditure (capex) for Stage 1 is estimated at $109-million for the mine/concentrator and by-product circuits, excluding contingency. Capex for Stage 2 chemical plant will be funded largely from internal cash flow.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Piedmont is advancing a prefeasibility study, which is expected to be completed in 2019.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
CSA Global (resource estimation, mine design and scheduling, and by-products marketability); North Carolina State University’s Minerals Research Laboratory (metallurgical testwork); Hazen Research (metallurgical assays); Primero Group (process engineering and infrastructure); HDR Engineering of the Carolinas (permitting, environment and social studies); Johnston, Allison and Hord (land title and legal); and Global Lithium (lithium products marketability).

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Piedmont Lithium, tel +61 8 9322 6322 or email info@piedmontlithium.com.