Pursuit Minerals: A lithium project that could make serious money … even at today’s prices
Pursuit Minerals Managing Director Aaron Revelle on 3AW & 2GB Bulls N' Bears Report
Listen to ASX-listed Pursuit Minerals Managing Director Aaron Revelle talk to Matt Birney on the Bulls N’ Bears Report about Pursuit’s lithium brine pilot plant that can produce lithium carbonate at about half the current market price.
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RADIO INTERVIEW - TRANSCRIPT
Matt Birney - Welcome to Bulls N' Bears brought to you today by lithium brine developer Pursuit Minerals
Matt Birney - ASX code: PUR
Matt Birney - I'm Matt Birney and I'm joined now by the managing director of Pursuit Minerals Aaron Revelle, hi Aaron
Aaron Revelle - Hi Matt, thanks for having me
Matt Birney - Okay Aaron so Pursuit has a lithium brine project right in the heart of the so-called lithium triangle in Argentina. I know you've just dramatically increased your brine resource there at the Rio Grande Sur project, what was the resource and what is it now?
Aaron Revelle - So the former resource was 251,000 tonnes at just above 350 mgl Li and we've increased that to 1.1 million tonnes at 500 mgl Li
Matt Birney - Is there any scope to increase that further?
Aaron Revelle - There is, we're still yet to drill our Northern tenement named Mito in the north of the project which we'll consider doing once lithium prices rebound to former highs
Matt Birney - Okay so Pursuit bought a lithium carbonate pilot plant for this project last year. How many tons of lithium carbonate a year can that pilot plant churn out, what will it cost you to produce a tonne of LCE and what's a tonne of lithium carbonate equivalent selling for in the market right now?
Aaron Revelle - So lithium carbonate is currently selling between $10,500 to $11,000 USD per tonne. We have our Salta pilot plant that runs at a 250 tonne per annum continuous operating capacity and we're currently about to start first production from that plant in the first few kilos which will due out in the first quarter of next year. That plant in itself runs at around $4,500 to $5,000 USD per tonne then the current operational run
Matt Birney - What did you pay for the plant and what would it cost to replace it today?
Aaron Revelle - So the plant cost us around $400,00 to $450,000 USD per tonne and with the recent upgrades and developments at the plant the replacement value is closer to the 5 million USD per tonne mark
Matt Birney - So that's a pilot plant, tell me about the broader plan here in terms of potential full scale production, do you have any estimates on how many tons a year you could produce at full tilt from a big plant?
Aaron Revelle - Absolutely so for us the intention is to have that plant running continuously which would involve relocating that plant to site for a continuous 250 ton per annum operation
Aaron Revelle - As with that we're always looking for expansion of which we'll evaluate scenarios between 5 to 10 to 20,000 per tonne which are currently in production with other major mines run by majors such as Rio Tinto and Ganfeng in the area
Matt Birney - Aaron Revelle from Pursuit Minerals
Matt Birney - Thanks for joining me on and remember we're only here to give you information not advice which you should of course seek independently
Matt Birney - I'm Matt Birney and this is Bulls N' Bears
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