Tawana Resources looks set to be Australia’s next lithium exporter, but the company’s managing director Mark Calderwood said he didn’t feel like he was racing other Australian lithium aspirants into the market.
Tawana produced its first spodumene concentrate at its Bald Hills operation in Western Australia in recent days, and Mr Calderwood said first exports of the lithium-rich product were likely by April.
That schedule should ensure Tawana is exporting the concentrate before rivals Pilbara Minerals and Altura Mining, both of which expect to produce and ship their first concentrate in the three months ending June 30.
The almost simultaneous arrival of the three projects has prompted many to speculate about a near-term oversupply of spodumene concentrate, putting a premium on those first into the market.
“We have all been harassed endlessly by the offtakers, so it is no longer a race to first in and best dressed any more, there is that much inbound demand apparent.”
Further easing the competitive pressures is the fact that Tawana and Pilbara have found buyers for virtually all of their spodumene concentrate production for the next couple of years.
“Back six months ago I thought like that, but it doesn’t matter now, we could all sell multiples of our product if we were able to,” he said.
“We have all been harassed endlessly by the offtakers, so it is no longer a race to first in and best dressed any more, there is that much inbound demand apparent.”
Further easing the competitive pressures is the fact that Tawana and Pilbara have found buyers for virtually all of their spodumene concentrate production for the next couple of years.
Mineral Resources, which is a partner in Mt Marion, has separately been exporting spodumene in unprocessed form, dubbed direct shipping ore (DSO), through Port Hedland over the past ten months, and Pilbara will also start shipping DSO later this year in partnership with Atlas Iron.
“It gives me faith in the Aussie spirit that we can do things quickly if we need to,” said Mr Calderwood.
Once fully ramped up, Bald Hills should have all-in costs of production of about $US400 per tonne, compared to a contracted sale price of about $US880 per tonne.
Tawana is yet to set an exact date for its first shipment but expects it to be in mid to late April, and the company expects its first shipment to be about 10,000 tonnes of concentrate.
