JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Lithium project developer Plymouth Minerals has partnered with Chinese lithium producer Shandong Ruifu to process material from the San Jose project into saleable products and to assist with the technical aspects of the feasibility study for project.
Announcing the alliance on Thursday, Plymouth said that the Chinese company had expertise in lithium carbonate production from mica and spodumene feedstock. Shandon Ruifu would produce and help to market battery-grade lithium carbonate products using feedstock from the San Jose project, in Spain.
Shandong Ruifu has ten plants operating or under construction in Yichun area, in Jiangxi, which treat lithium-bearing mica feedstock. Plymouth noted that Shandong Ruifu was aggressively seeking additional feed for its processing plants and that it would also assist in souring new material from projects other than San Jose.
Shandong Ruifu would help Plymouth to optimise the process flow sheet of the San Jose project as it entered the feasibility study stage.
The project is currently in the final stages of a scoping study, the completion of which will earn Plymouth 50% of San Jose. The successful completion of a feasibility study will increase its interest in the project to 75%, with Valoriza Mineria retaining 25%.