TINASHE MAKICHI
Australian Stock Exchange listed resources firm, Prospect Resources, is accelerating negotiations with potential off-takers and finance partners as the group targets full production at its Zimbabwean-based Acadia Lithium project.
The Arcadia project, located on the outskirts of the capital Harare, is expected to commence production in 2023.
The outfit completed a feasibility study, which delivered strong project economics.
It placed Arcadia in the lowest cost quartile, able to deliver the high purity petalite and spodumene products.
It also has existing off-take agreements across Europe and Asia.
“Prospect’s off-take partners have provided positive indications in terms of demand for petalite, as lithium inventories decrease from six months to fewer than two months,” Prospect Resources managing director Sam Hosack said.
The company has approved preliminary exploration budget and commenced collection and assessment of grab samples on the Chishanya Carbonatite project.
Land ownership assessment was completed to evaluate further prospective ground.
Prospect said Luzich Partners LLC paid the non-refundable deposit of US$200 000 in accordance with the option to purchase the Penhalonga Gold Project announced last year in October. Luzich will now undertake due diligence on the asset for a period of 180 days and pay further consideration of US$800k if it elects to exercise the option.
In December, Prospect said it has been accepted into the European Raw Material Alliance (ERMA) as a primary raw material partner.
ERMA aims to make Europe economically more resilient by diversifying its supply chains, creating jobs, attracting investments to the raw materials value chain, fostering innovation, training young talent and contributing to the best enabling framework for raw materials worldwide.
Prospect plans to accelerate its engagement with European stakeholders and to participate in ERMA’s development strategy for critical materials, Hosack said.
He also indicated that the off take agreement with Sibelco N.V is a practical step to improving Europe’s critical material resilience.
