Liontown Resources has reached major milestones in the advancement of its Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia: the maiden shipment of its spodumene concentrate and the commencement of spot sales for spodumene concentrate.
The company said this week its first shipment of concentrate from Kathleen Valley successfully loaded onto MV Eckert Oldendorff and departed the Port of Geraldton on 27 September. It comprised 11,855 wet metric tonnes (WMT) of spodumene concentrate with a weighted average concentrate grade of 5.2% Li2O,1 enroute to an existing offtake customer in China.
The company continues to progress ramp-up milestones at Kathleen Valley, having produced >28,000 WMT of concentrate at a weighted average grade of 5.2% since announcing first production, based on laboratory assays managed by SGS Australia.
“From the inception of our marketing strategy, the company has been clear with its position that a transparent, auditable and liquid price index is crucial to establishing a long-term sustainable lithium industry,” officials said. “To that end, [we are] also advised that it would allocate production to sell in the spot market. It is now pleased to announce its first spot sale for its uncontracted production.”
An initial spot sale of 10,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate to a Singapore-based trader achieved a reference price, at a premium to spot, of US$802/dry metric tonne of SC6, with shipment scheduled for early Q4 CY2024.
In addition to the spot and ramp up tonnes sales, Liontown said it will progressively commence fulfilling its strategic offtake agreements with LGES, Tesla and Ford.
MD and CEO Tony Ottaviano called the shipment a pivotal moment for the company.
“Over the past six years, Liontown has focused on developing and constructing a world-class tier-1 lithium operation, and now we announce the beginning of generating revenue and cash flow, as we see our plans come to fruition. As we look ahead, we continue our ramp up progress towards steady state production and remain committed to enhancing shareholder value with confidence in the long-term success of Kathleen Valley.”
Source: Liontown Resources