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EMR looking for more Lubambes

MR Capital is looking for further op- looking to do more in other parts of Africa.”
Eportunities on the African continent he said.
with copper and other critical minerals on “A project must have scale – it doesn’t
the agenda. have to be Rio Tinto [Ltd] or BHP [Ltd] size
Owner of the 2.5 mtpa Lubambe cop- but it has to have critical mass. Grade is still
per mine in Zambia, EMR is preparing to king and there must be a process which is
expand operations through development defined. It must be low-cost, which means
of the high-grade (250mt @ 3.6% copper) it is able to survive when things get a bit
Extension area. bumpy. And, it must have a long life or the
EMR chairman Owen Hegarty said the capability of getting there, that is the best
Extension project would turn Lubambe way to satisfy and reward and develop all
into a world-class operation. our stakeholders – a long-life sustainable
“We have an absolute world-class unde- operation.”
veloped resource at depth there,” he said. Hegarty said there were many such op-
“Of the undeveloped copper orebodies portunities in Africa to be unlocked with
around the world, Lubambe is one of the the help of Australian expertise.
highest grade. And, we have the existing “There will be great advantages and op-
infrastructure at surface to develop it.” portunities between Australian capital and
With the private equity company bullish technology and African countries,” he said.
on copper, Hegarty suggested it was hunt- “This is where the cooperation comes in,
ing for further red metal projects on the whether capital, technology or technical
African continent. capability because they are all relatively
“There are wonderful opportunities in well developed in Australia.”
Africa for resource development, we’ve in- – Dominic Piper
vested a few hundred million dollars in the Owen Hegarty
Lubambe copper mine in Zambia and are

Go time for Goulamina $US5-6,000/t currently being quoted in
spot markets.
Neither will the company have trouble
selling its spodumene. Its partner in Gou-
ajor works are set to start on the Gou- “You could float an entire company for lamina is Ganfeng Lithium, the largest lith-
Mlamina lithium project this year, just $50 million on the back of that if it was in ium chemical producer in China. Ganfeng
so long as project owner Leo Lithium Ltd Australia,” Hay suggested. “So, we will look paid $US130 million for its share in the JV
doesn’t keep uncovering more mineralisa- to drill out the recent hits to see if we actual- and is committed to providing $US40 mil-
tion within the construction footprint. ly need to move the waste rock elsewhere.” lion of debt.
Goulamina – 150km south of the Malian It isn’t a terrible problem to have and Hay said having a world-class partner
capital of Bamako – is set to become West points to the early-stage nature of the wider provided more than funding.
Africa’s first operating lithium mine when Goulamina project. Hay said mineralisation “We have already benefited from its pro-
production starts from the 2.3 mtpa opera- was only defined to shallow depths, offer- curement capabilities and the fact it has
tion in 2024. Leo managing director Simon ing ample opportunity for resource growth. built a number of spodumene conversion
Hay told Africa Down Under construction The company is drilling some deeper holes facilities already – it is building a sixth for
would ramp up in 2023 with 40-50% of cap- below the resource with a view to producing Goulamina – is really important because
ital projects out to tender. However, there updated numbers at the end of the year. we are seeing in Australia that building
has been one unexpected roadblock in lay- Any additional tonnes will be added to a conversion facilities can be high-cost with
out design with sterilisation drilling recently processing facility which is already slated long development timeframes,” he said. So,
intercepting 20m @ 1.8% lithium in an area to grow from 2.3 mtpa to 4 mtpa after four having a partner with experience in lithium
set aside for waste rock dumps. years for an additional $US70 million, on chemicals is a real advantage.”
top of the initial $US255 million capex. In Hay also had praise for Goulamina’s third
Stage 2, the project will produce 800,000 project partner, the Malian Government
tpa of spodumene concentrate, making (10% free-carried interest).
Goulamina a Top 5 global lithium producer. Mining operations have continued in the
Hay said while the company was acutely West African country despite heightened
focused on managing capital given the security risks involving an Islamic insurgen-
current inflationary pressures across the cy and multiple military coups.
globe, the overall impact on project eco- The current military-led Government has
nomics was negligible. agreed to democratic elections in 2023 with
“The project is relatively immune to capex regional sanctions consequently dropped.
increases because of the spodumene pric- “The Malian Government has been very
es we are seeing in the market,” he said, supportive,” Hay said.
pointing to the gap between the assumed – Dominic Piper
price of $US1,250/t Leo is using and the

Simon Hay
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2022 Page 27