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sIte VIsIt Core Lithium smanaging director Stephen Biggins finds

himself at the helm of a lithium play for the first time but
he has quickly developed a passion for the mineral equal
to that he holds for the Northern Territory

Core stands tall in the nT

ining in Northern Australia usually “That feeds into us having a very cost capex, the abundance of spodumene in
Mevokes visions of 4WDs on dusty competitive project with our producing the Finniss resource means Core can
trails and untravelled bush routes, isola- peers in Australia.” use dense media separation for process-
tion from metropolitan society and being If assessing a project’s chances of ing, reducing operating costs on a per
hours from the beach and surf. development relies on a bingo card of tonne basis.
With that perception in mind, it would questions around milestones, hurdles The basic flowsheet will also simplify
sound barely believable that a mining and comparisons, a visit to Finniss with its approach to offtake which has been
job in the Northern Territory was only a Biggins and senior management reveals steadily booked since last year. Core’s
45-minute drive from the suburbs, but the company is marking off many of its largest shareholder, and Chinese Te-
that is the pitch for Core Lithium Ltd as it targets with the steady news flow of re- sla Inc supply partner, Yahua is bound
seeks a workforce for its Finniss lithium cent months. to take 75,000 tpa from Finniss – and a
project. Just 88km by road from Darwin Finding a workforce looms as a major bevy of lithium-hungry dealers are sup-
Port, Finniss – resource 3.4mt @ 1.4% challenge for any mining project thanks posedly queued behind them.
lithium oxide – could be in production in to an increasing national skills shortage “We’re engaged with all parts of the
2022 with Core confident of starting con- but the talent pool doesn’t seem so small lithium battery and EV supply chain that
struction later this year. for Core given its proximity to city life. have approached us and keen to source
Core managing director Stephen Big- “We’re already getting expressed inter- a supply of high-quality lithium concen-
gins’ dream of putting a mine site so close est from locals who live in Darwin who trate from us,” Biggins said without nam-
to the tourist-filled waterfront board- want to work for us,” Biggins said. “We’re ing names.
walks and chicken parmigiana-laden bar recruiting some of those workers at the “There is substantial overdemand that
menus of Darwin has been bolstered in moment because there’s an attractive- we’ve received for our high-quality lithi-
recent months by offtake deals, a port ness there to live a normal residential life um product and we’re in the final stages
agreement and even a gold discovery in a capital city and then drive out to a of negotiating and completing material
but above all it is Finniss’ setting which mining job as a daily commute.” new offtake deals and we’re dealing with
gives Core its competitive advantage. A major plus for Core is the creation of some of the biggest guys in the EV sup-
“I think the location of the project adja- another cost saving – no need for camp ply chain.”
cent to the capital city of Darwin and the sites and worker accommodation. Targeting the growing EV supply chain
port enables the project to be one of the Such advantages are a running theme is an obvious move by Core and the Te-
most capital efficient lithium projects in for Core in its quest to participate in the sla connection only sweetens the deal
Australia and around the globe,” Biggins world’s lithium supply chain. in a bullish lithium market experiencing
told Paydirt. If a residential workforce reduces growing pains.

Page 8 aUgUST 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT