Australia’s newest lithium miner, Core Lithium (ASX: CXO), signed off on a milestone December quarter that included preparations for a maiden shipment of lithium DSO and significant construction progress at Finniss.
Core’s principal focus during the quarter was to advance Finniss, on the outskirts of Darwin in the Northern Territory.
Mining commenced late last year, which enabled Core to complete a maiden shipment of 15,000dmt of DSO with a grade of 1.4% Li2O, while during the quarter the crushing and screening plant at Finniss was successfully commissioned. Construction of the dense media separation plant remains on schedule for production of maiden spodumene concentrate in the first half of 2023.
During the quarter Core also completed the 2022 drilling campaign, which was designed to deliver near-term resource and reserve growth.
Core had $125 million cash at December 31, which does not include proceeds from the sale of DSO which were received in the subsequent quarter.
Commenting on the quarter, Core chief executive Gareth Manderson said:
“Core Lithium has continued to reach key milestones this quarter including the mining of ore, commissioning the crushing plant, sale of pre-production direct shipping ore (DSO) and the successful completion of the $100m placement.
“The Finniss operations team are managing the weather impacts experienced from Tropical Cyclone Ellie that brought above average rainfall during December. We continue to refine our approach to manage the impacts of wet season events and remain on track for commissioning of the concentrator with our key contracting partners.”
