PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Wolfsberg lithium project, in Austria, is expected to deliver about 620 000 t/y run-of-mine production over a 12-year period, ASX-listed European Lithium reported on Thursday.
A prefeasibility study (PFS) has estimated that the concentrator will produce an average of 55 400 t/y of spodumene concentrate, with an average of 114 000 t of feldspar and 71 000 t of quarts as by-products.
European Lithium noted that it planned to convert the lithium in the spodumene concentrate to an average of 8 400 t/y of lithium hydroxide monohydrate at a hydrometallurgy plant to the south of the mine.
The company said that with some added equipment and improved scheduling, the mining rate could be increased to around 720 000 t/y, which resulted in a mine life of ten years.
The 20% increase in the processing rate will result in lithium hydroxide monohydrate production increasing to an average of 10 129 t/y. The accelerated production rate will increase project capital from $388.6-million considered in the base case, to $423.6-million.
The base case production scenario is estimated to have a pre-tax net present value (NPV) of $263.2-million and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 21.2%, while the accelerated option has a NPV of $339.4-million and an IRR of 25.6%.
European Lithium chairperson Tony Sage said on Thursday that the completion of the PFS, which established the technical and economic viability of the Wolfsberg project, was a major step in the project’s development.
“The company will endeavor to formally start the definitive feasibility study in July, with the aim of completing it before the end of 2018,” Sage said.