Core Lithium Ltd (ASX:CXO) will today officially open the Finniss Lithium Mine, making it the first lithium mine in production in the Northern Territory and Australia’s only lithium mine outside Western Australia.
The mine near Darwin was opened by the NT Minister for Mining and Industry Nicole Manison MLA with Core chief executive officer Gareth Manderson, Core non-executive chair Greg English and members of the board also in attendance.
The lithium miner will employ directly and indirectly a workforce of about 300 personnel during the life of the mine.
Looking ahead, Finniss is on target to export Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) lithium by the end of this year following its first sale from Finniss early last week.
“Strong global demand”
Core CEO Gareth Manderson said: “Core is bringing production online at a time of high lithium prices, strong global demand and constrained supply.
“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.”
“The first four years of production from the Finniss Lithium Project is already secured with approximately 80% sold to offtake partners, including Ganfeng Lithium and Sichuan Yahua who have provided tremendous support during our development phase.”
First sale of DSO lithium
Last week, Core completed the first sale of spodumene direct shipping ore (DSO) from Finniss.
The company sold 15,000 dry metric tonnes (dmt) DSO with an average grade of 1.4% lithium oxide for US$951 per dmt to several pre-screened participants active in the lithium-ion battery supply chain.
The product offered for sale via a digital exchange platform is the post-crushing DSO material to a P100 size of 6.3mm.