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InDABA ReVIeW

Prospect’s rise

after tough year

Prospect general
manager Trevor Barnard
at the company’s
Arcadia lithium
project, Zimbabwe

t is testament to the Prospect Resources a string of high-profile problems in the on both.
ILtd management team that an out-of- nascent West Australian lithium sector. “Both of these qualities have been core
favour commodity and negatively per- In the space of six months, Pilbara Min- to our exploration and now development
ceived jurisdiction have failed to halt the erals Ltd, Mineral Resources Ltd, Alita strategies, as we sought to have a highly
company’s progress to the cusp of mine Resources Ltd and Talison Lithium all an- competitive cost of production of under
development. nounced closures, cancelled expansions the $US300/t threshold. Having now put
In November, ASX-listed Prospect an- or slowed production at their WA lithium the project through rigorous analysis, we
nounced an updated DFS for its Arcadia operations as the glut of spodumene con- have a DFS demonstrating strong project
lithium project, 38km east of Harare, centrate in the market affected prices. economics that provide a material oppor-
Zimbabwe. The DFS confirmed the po- The travails of peers is the first is- tunity for Prospect and its shareholders.
tential of a 15-year project producing an- sued raised in many of Prospect’s recent “The updated DFS last year ensured
nual EBITDA of $US168 million after a meetings but according to chief execu- we were extremely competitive, settled
$US162 million capital outlay. tive Sam Hosack the recent industry set- on the assumptions that we have the
The Prospect management team have backs have sharpened the company’s highest confidence in particularly on the
spent the subsequent three months tak- resolve as well as its investment case. recoveries and grade, and be appropri-
ing the updated project around London, “Lithium, as the world is now learning, ately conservative on the outlook to en-
Cape Town and Australia as they finalise is all about the quality of the product and sure the model was adequately stress
offtake and funding proposals. the cost of production,” Hosack told Pay- tested.”
The roadshow has been undertaken dirt. “We’ve been talking about that for a While spodumene concentrate prices
at a difficult time for lithium juniors after long time and see that Arcadia delivers have retracted, Hosack is still confident

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