PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Junior Core Lithium has produced its first spodumene from its Finniss lithium project, in the Northern Territory.
The company on Monday announced that it had completed construction of the dense media separation (DMS) plant, and commissioning is now well advanced.
The maiden production of the lithium concentrate will remain at the project until sufficient volumes have been built to be transported to the Darwin Port for the first concentrate export shipment.
“Commissioning of the DMS plant represents the final step in the delivery of Core’s first mining operation. The safe and successful construction of the Finniss mining facilities during a global pandemic and through two Northern Territory wet seasons is testament to the resilience and hard work of the Core employees and contract partners, including a number of local Darwin suppliers,” said Core CEO Gareth Manderson.
“The approach to establish a mining operation, and in parallel complete the exploration work required to support potential future operations, is a credit to the business and its people. This approach has enabled Core to rapidly move the business to a position where concentrate production has now commenced.
“With construction complete, our focus moves to safely completing commissioning of the concentrator, delivery of our first cargo and ramp-up of operations at Finniss that will deliver high-quality, reliable volumes of lithium concentrate into a favourable market.”
The Stage 1 Finniss project, comprising an openpit operation and underground operation, would produce 175 000 t/y from a one-million-tonne-a-year plant.