PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Lithium developer Liontown Resources is evaluating sale of direct shipping ore (DSO) at its Kathleen Valley project, in Western Australia, as an opportunity for early cash generation.
Liontown COO Adam Smits told delegates at the Paydirt Battery Minerals conference, in Perth, that DSO material was already being stockpiled at site, as part of openpit operations, which started earlier this year.
“I think at least a dozen samples have gone out and there is a lot of interest in this DSO product. It is not part of the reserve, but opportunities in the DSO market have presented themselves and we now have a decent team that can respond to those opportunities,” Smits said.
He noted, however, that the DSO opportunities would not derail Liontown from its larger target of starting lithium concentrate production by mid-2024.
The 2.5-million-tonne-a-year Kathleen Valley operation will produce 500 000 t/y of spodumene concentrate, and in year six of operations, Liontown would look to increase he project capacity to 4-million tonnes a year, delivering 700 000 t/y of spodumene concentrate, within six years.
Based on this production scenario, the Kathleen Valley operation is expected to have a mine life of 23 years, and will generate life-of-mine free cash flows of A$12.2-billion.