JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Exploration and development company Plymouth Minerals is aiming to attract a strategic industry partner for the development of its flagship lithium project in Spain and said on Friday that it was in discussions with European gigafactory developers.
The San Jose project, in which Plymouth has a 50% interest and an option to increase that to 75%, is expected to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate on site, which the project developer expects will give it an advantage over other suppliers to planned gigafactories in Europe.
An estimated 130 GWh of new battery supply is suggested for Europe by 2028, the ASX-listed company reported.
Plymouth said that it had also reached out to offtake partners around the world, including China and South East Asia. “Confidential discussions are under way with several end-user groups.”
The completion of a robust scoping study for San Jose in October has allowed the firm to step up offtake discussions.
The study indicated that the San Jose project could deliver 15 000 t/y of battery grade lithium carbonate over an initial mine life of 24 years. The project has a net present value of $401-million and an internal rate of return of 28%.
Plymouth is now preparing to move on to a feasibility study and said that it had a shortlist of engineering groups for the feasibility study for its San Jose lithium/tin project. Announcements are expected in the coming weeks.