Lithium Americas Corp reports the completion of a series of transactions with subsidiaries of Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Co (Ganfeng Lithium) and Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) with respect to the Cauchari-Olaroz lithium project in Jujuy, Argentina, previously announced on August 13, 2018. Pursuant to the transaction, Ganfeng Lithium has acquired a 37.5% interest in Minera Exar, the holding company for Cauchari-Olaroz, from SQM. Lithium Americas holds the remaining 62.5% interest. Ganfeng Lithium has provided Lithium Americas with a $100 million limited recourse, subordinated loan facility to fully fund Lithium Americas’ increased share of Caucharí-Olaroz’ capital expenditures.
Tom Hodgson, CEO of Lithium Americas, commented, “We would like to thank SQM for helping close the transaction on schedule and for their continued support during the transition period. We are very pleased with the recent progress at site, including the start of filling the first pond in October, and remain on track to commence lithium carbonate production in 2020. Following the close of the transaction, Lithium Americas remains well capitalized with approximately $300 million in available capital and over $45 million in cash on our balance sheet.”
Wang Xiaoshen, Vice Chairman of Ganfeng Lithium, commented, “Advancing Cauchari-Olaroz to production is one of our top priorities. With the transaction closed and construction activity accelerating, we look to leverage our technical and project execution experience processing concentrated brine into high-quality lithium products to the benefit of Minera Exar and the Province of Jujuy.”
It is a conventional brine project with a planned annual production capacity of 25,000 t/y Li2CO3 (Stage 1) and project life of 40 years. Project capital costs have been estimated at $425 million and operating costs at $2,495/t Li2CO3: EBITDA (average annual) $233 million; NPV (8% discount, after-tax) $1.1 billion; NPV (10% discount, after-tax) $803 million and IRR (pre-tax) 34.0% or IRR (after-tax) 28.4%.
In addition, Lithium Americas owns 100% of the Thacker Pass lithium project located in Nevada, the largest known lithium deposit in the US.
