PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed Orocobre continues to see strong market fundamentals for lithium carbonate products, which bodes well for the company’s plans to expand production at its Olaroz lithium facility, in Argentina, MD and CEO Richard Seville said on Monday.
The company, which declared commercial production at Olaroz in May, is studying an expansion of production to between 35 000 t/y and 42 500 t/y by the end of 2018.
“We currently see a similar scenario as occurred two years ago where timing and quantity of new supply were significantly overestimated. These market fundamentals represent a material opportunity for Orocobre to deliver on its plans to expand production capacity…,” said Seville.
Olaroz produced 6 903 t of lithium carbonate in the 2016 financial year, ended June 30, and is targeting production of 15 000 t/y in the 2017 financial year.
Lithium carbonate sales during the financial year reached 2 040, at an average price of $7 535/t, generating revenues of $28.8-million.