Huayou starts trial production at Zimbabwe lithium mine, invests in Namibian project (updated)

Highland Metals

22/03/2023 18:30

(Adds details on processing plant)
       HARARE, March 22 (Reuters) - Chinese battery minerals
producer Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt  603799.SS  said on Wednesday it
had started trial production of lithium concentrates at its
Arcadia mine in Zimbabwe.
    Huayou, one of the world's biggest cobalt producers,
acquired Arcadia from Australia-listed Prospect Resources
 PSC.AX  and its Zimbabwean partners in a $422 million deal
completed in 2022. After the transaction, Huayou said it would
spend $300 million to build a plant to process 4.5 million
tonnes of lithium ore at Arcadia.  
    "All production lines of the Arcadia lithium mine project
... have completed equipment installation and commissioning, put
materials into trial production and successfully produced the
first batch of products," Huayou said in a statement.
    The processing plant was completed in nine months instead of
the planned year, but the company did not say when it would go
into full production and was not immediately available to
comment.
        The Arcadia mine is expected to produce 50,000 tonnes of
lithium carbonate equivalent lithium concentrate, Huayou said. 
    The company said Arcadia, its biggest investment in Africa
to date, was a key step towards its strategy to secure and build
a chain of lithium assets.
    On Wednesday, Huayou also announced a A$2.5 million ($1.67
million) investment in Australia-listed Askari Metals  AS2.AX 
to advance the exploration of its Uis lithium project in
Namibia. 
    Huayou also has two copper and cobalt projects in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, with an annual production of
100,000 tonnes of cathode copper and 10,000 tonnes of cobalt.
    In Indonesia, the company has three nickel and cobalt
projects, with an expected annual production of 225,000 tonnes
of nickel and 23,000 tonnes of cobalt products by 2024.
    
    ($1 = 1.4937 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Nelson Banya
Editing by Mark Potter and Richard Chang)
 ((Nelson.Banya@thomsonreuters.com;))