Finniss lithium farewells second spodumene shipment

The second shipment of 13,100 tonnes of spodumene concentrate forms part of an agreement with Sichuan Yahua for a total of 18,500 tonnes. Once received, the latest shipment will complete the sales agreement.

The first two shipments were sold in addition to an offtake agreement between Core Lithium and Sichuan Yahua for the sale of 300,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate.

“Core’s second concentrate shipment was produced and delivered to the Darwin Port on-schedule, marking an important milestone for Core and Finniss and will complete the additional sales agreements with our foundation customer Sichuan Yahua,” Core chief executive officer Gareth Manderson said.

“As we ramp up to steady-state operations at Finniss, our focus now is on the reliable production and delivery of spodumene concentrate to our long-term offtake partners.”

The Finnis lithium mine near in the NT has a mineral resource of 15 million tonnes at 1.3 per cent lithium oxide.

The project is the only lithium mine in the country outside Western Australia and was officially opened in October last year.

“The Core team has done a fantastic job quickly transitioning from discovery and exploration to construction and shortly supply of high-grade lithium concentrate to a global market in just six years,” Manderson said at the time.

“The first four years of production from the project is already secured with about 80 per cent sold to offtake partners, including Ganfeng Lithium and Sichuan Yahua, who have provided tremendous support during our development phase.”