IronRidge Resources completes Ewoyaa Lithium scoping study
Published by Jessica Casey,
Editor
Global Mining Review,
IronRidge Resources Ltd, an African focused minerals exploration company, has announced the completion of a scoping study on the Ewoyaa Lithium Project in Ghana, West Africa, which positions it is an industry-leading asset.
Highlights
- Scoping study supports business case for 2 million tpy production operation with life of mine (LOM) revenues exceeding US$1.55 billion, with significant potential to extend LOM.
- 8 year LOM operation, producing an average 295 000 tpy of 6% lithium oxide (Li2O) spodumene concentrate.
- Study delivers exceptional financial outcomes:
- LOM revenues exceeding US$1.55 billion, post-tax net-present value (NPV) of US$345 million, IronRidge Resources of 125% over 8 years.
- US$68 million capital cost with industry-leading payback period of <1 year.
- C1 cash operating costs of US$247/t of 6% lithium spodumene concentrate free on board (FOB) Ghana Port.
- Pre-tax NPV of US$539 million and EBITDA of US$854 million for LOM.
- Average EBITDA of US$105 million/y.
- Preliminary Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) test-work confirms Ewoyaa concentrate produces high purity, battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM).
- Project provides outstanding asset fundamentals, logistics and access to infrastructure:
- Conventional opencast mining operation from surface with low stripping ratios.
- Simple processing via conventional dense media separation only (DMS), producing a premium coarse crush 6% spodumene concentrate saleable product.
- Excellent geology and metallurgy with significant value-add potential from feldspar credits.
- First quartile cash costs; low capital and operating costs with a low carbon footprint.
- Significant exploration upside potential from the historic Egyasimanku Hill deposit (1.5 million t at 1.66% Li2O) and surrounding 684 km2 portfolio.
- Close proximity to excellent logistics and infrastructure – only 110 km by road from the deep-sea port of Takoradi, adjacent to highway and high voltage (HV) powerlines, including hydroelectric sources.
- Significant potential for resource upgrades; project metrics substantially improve with increased LOM beyond 10 years.
Vincent Mascolo, CEO of IronRidge, said: "Today's landmark update regarding the company's exceptional scoping study confirms that the Ewoyaa Lithium Project is an industry-leading asset and transformational for IronRidge.
"The Study outlines a robust 2 million tpy operation which can deliver excellent cash flows, a very quick payback and a pre-tax NPV of over half a billion US dollars from a modest 8-year operation, producing a coarse, premium DMS concentrate product.
"The project leverages existing infrastructure, including directly adjacent HV power, a major highway within 1 km of the site, and the major port of Takoradi less than 2 hours drive away.
"Few hard-rock lithium projects worldwide can boast the proximity to existing operational infrastructure, lithium grade and a simple DMS-only process route that separates Ewoyaa from its peers.
"With the benefit of adjacent infrastructure and without the need to include expensive milling and flotation circuits, the project benefits from a very low upfront capital expenditure.
"Our resource continues to grow, and the upside of the project is clear; further resource drilling is currently underway and, as such, we expect that the project metrics will improve beyond the current defined LOM.
"Given these fundamentals, we are very excited by the resurgence and exponential growth potential across the lithium supply chain and reaffirm to the market that IronRidge is ideally poised to capture the lithium market going forward."
Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/19012021/ironridge-resources-completes-ewoyaa-lithium-scoping-study/
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