Name of the Project
Arcadia lithium project.

Location
About 38 km east of Harare, in Zimbabwe.

Project Owner/s
Prospect Resources.

Project Description
A staged optimised feasibility study on Arcadia has reflected the strong potential of the project to become a compelling long-life, large-scale, hard-rock openpit lithium mine.

The project has ore reserves of 42.3-million tonnes grading 1.19% lithium oxide and 121 parts per million tantalum pentoxide.

The study has confirmed the strong technical and economic viability of conventional openpit mining and gravity processing through a staged development to 1.2-million tonnes a year (Stage 1), and then to 2.4-million tonnes (Stage 2) from Year 4.

Stage 1 production is estimated at 73 800 t/y of chemical spodumene, 42 500 t/y of technical petalite and 10 600 t/y of chemical petalite in concentrate.

Stage 2 production is estimated at 146 000 t/y of chemical spodumene, 95 500 t/y of technical petalite, and 23 900 t/y of chemical petalite.

The project has an initial mine life of 20 years

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $465-million (real basis, ungeared) and an internal rate of return of 35% (real basis, ungeared), with a payback period of 5.42 years after tax.

Capital Expenditure
Preproduction capital expenditure for both stages is estimated at $212.4million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Project economics are expected to be further improved in the Direct-to-2.4-million tonnes year optimised feasibility study, due for completion in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Lycopodium (process design, engineering cost estimate, safety management plan, project execution plan, quality management plan); Civil Technics of Bulawayo (geotechnical services); CSA Global (mine planning); SRK Consulting of Johannesburg and Envirosmart Consultancy (gap analysis); NUST University Zimbabwe and Lycopodium (hydrogeology assessment); Norconsult (electrical network analysis); and PLZ (transport fleet study)

Contact Details for Project Information
Prospect Resources, email info@prospectresources.com.au.