La compagnie Lithium Americas dévoile un plan d' investissement de 399 millions de $ pour développer un gisement de Lithium en Argentine qui serait le 3iéme plus gros du monde.
A terme ils planifient une production de 40000 tonnes/an. Et cela pendant
au moins 40 ans.
C' est le projet Cauchari.
Lithium Americas outlines $399m mine plan for world-class lithium-brine resource
18 Apr 2011 mineweb.com
Magna and Mitsubishi-backed explorer Lithium Americas made the case for a lithium brine mine in Jujuy province, Argentina, in its first scoping study of the Cauchari project, which it reports contains the third largest such deposit in the world. On news of the scoping study Lithium Americas' share price surged over 10% to $2.28 in the first couple hours of trading April 18, 2011.
Lithium Americas would construct a 40,000-tonne per year lithium carbonate mine in two phases, the first generating revenue in 2014 and the second in 2018, at a capital cost of $399 million. The first 20,000-tonne phase would cost $217 million to build, and construction would begin in 2012.
Waldo Perez, president and CEO of Lithium Americas, said the scoping study shows that Cauchari has the "potential to become one of the lowest cost lithium operations in the world."
Cash operating costs per tonne lithium carbonate came in at $1,434, putting it in the ballpark of other major lithium brine miners. By way of comparison, Chile's SQM , the world's leading lithium producer, reportedly has cash costs in the $1,600 to $1,800-per-tonne range at its Atacama lithium-brine mine, according to a Patersons 2010 research note to investors.
With massive measured and indicated resources at Cauchari, standing at 5.3 million tonnes lithium carbonate, the Cauchari scoping study forecasted production at 40,000 tonnes per year would only deplete about half the resource after 40 years.
Underpinning financial projections in the Cauchari scoping study was a lithium carbonate price of $5,500 per tonne. At that price and an eight percent discount rate, Lithium Americas estimated a $983 million net present value and, at the same discount, an after-tax, internal rate of return of 26%.
Along with other developing lithium projects in the region, Lithium Americas will need to forge a path through untested regulatory territory since the Jujuy provincial government declared lithium a strategic resource in 2010. In early March Lithium Americas reported it did not expect the lithium decree to affect development plans, but warned new rules would "increase the requirements for the final exploitation permit that will be requested once the final feasibility study is completed and presented to the government."
The additional rules for lithium amount to a secondary approval process. Orocobre , also pushing forward lithium projects in Jujuy province, said in March that in addition to environmental impact statements approval, the new process would require "assessment by a committee of experts, and following a positive recommendation from this committee, approval by the joint resolution of the Minister of Production and the Secretary General of the Provincial Government."
Comprising the committee of experts, Orocobre said, were "the Minister for Production, a representative from each of the National Council of Sciences and Technology, National University of Jujuy and Secretariat of Environmental Management, and two representatives from the Jujuy Legislative Assembly."
Assuming Lithium Americas secures approval for Cauchari, it has two key investors, Magna and Mitsubishi, lined up to potentially help it finance mine building. Both hold sizeable stakes in Lithium Americas, about 13% and 4% respectively, and options to exercise off-take agreements.
The off-take agreements would give Magna the right to up to 25% of Cauchari's lithium carbonate, and Mitsubishi up to 12.5% of lithium carbonate. If they opt in, both agreed to lend or arrange interest-free loans to Lithium Americas equal in proportion to their off-take.
http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/min ... &pid=72102
c'est juste à base de centrales nucléaires ou fossiles ! et si ça s'adresse aux seuls gens pour qui mettre 9000 € dans une batterie n'est pas un problème, mais qui apprécie surtout la "qualité de la propulsion" (pouvoir accélérer a fond pour doubler c'est ça ?) ... le marché est quand même restreint !
Quand on a un javelin dans la main, tous les problèmes ressemblent à un T-72.
