Today, one of Australia’s lithium darlings of 2022, Core Lithium [ASX:CXO], revealed that its board has approved early works funding for its BP33 mine — the next proposed mine at the Finniss tenement in the NT.
Investors were upvoting the lithium stock by 2.5% mid-morning on Friday. The CXO share price was then worth $1.13 each — a significant increase on the 4 cents the stock was worth back in late 2020.
More recently, Anson Resources [ASX:ASN] and Allkem [ASX:AKE] have been favourited stock picks, having risen 80% and 23% over the wider market during the last 12 months:
Source: TradingView
Core’s BP33 underground mine up for funding
Core Lithium’s board says the BP33 underground project has received all necessary authorisation approvals from the NT Government.
The group believes that the capital for these works will be in the range between $45 million–$50 million.
This is an update from earlier estimates that the group had presented back in September last year — when the group was still figuring out the financials required to fulfil the early work requirements.
Core expects the work to be completed by the end of Q1 CY2024. However, this estimate is subject to a potentially early wet season and some geotechnical and groundwater impacts.
The group said that this approach will allow a detailed feasibility study to also be completed at the same time. This will enable mine development to begin soon after a final investment decision.
It was also explained that the proposed early works have been approved based on the 2022 Mineral Resource model for BP33. In March 2023, the group announced it had increased its Mineral Resource by 131% to 10.1 million tonnes at 1.48% Li2O.
The group said it cannot reliably determine final capital expenditure, development and production timing for the underground mine until further studies have been completed.
This should all be included once the FID is completed in Q1 CY24.
A NT-based contractor has been appointed to undertake the early works with Core naming Northern Australia Civil to complete the job — a Darwin-based contractor with prior box-cut development experience.
Core Lithium CEO, Gareth Manderson said:
‘We are pleased to announce this positive, incremental investment decision that allows initial works to be undertaken while the feasibility study is completed for BP33, our potential next mine at the Finniss Lithium Operation.
‘We have been able to bring on the Finniss operations at a time in the market when it can deliver benefits for the NT and all its stakeholders due to the professional and efficient processes for approvals. The BP33 approval is another example of this.
‘We will continue focus on the safe ramp-up of the Grants open pit and concentrate production through the DMS plant.
‘We will aim to provide final project expenditure and other project metrics once we have incorporated the increased resources into our studies by Q1 CY24.’
Yes, we like lithium — but copper is special too
Lithium was hot in 2022, and although there have been signs of its popularity returning, it’s copper that we’re more concerned about right now.
After all, copper is the best option for electricity conduction, and its properties are — at present — impossible to match.
This makes it stand out like a sore thumb on the critical metals hit list for net zero goals.
If you subscribe to Fat Tail Commodities, you will hear from James Cooper, our resident geologist and commodities expert, and find out his take on why copper is so special.
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Regards,
Fat Tail Commodities
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