Shares in Kemin were up 13% on Monday morning at a price of
The company said its lead specialists recently visited an operating plant for the beneficiation of molybdenum, tungsten, and lithium. The plant is owned by China Molybdenum, which Kemin said is the largest molybdenum miner in
During the visit China Molybdenum "showed interest in the Drozhilovskoye field", and discussions were held over a possible joint development of the project.
These, Kemin said, centred around developing an open pit mine, and further talks are set to take place.
The latest drilling and analysis completed at the field, located in Kostanayskaya oblast in northern
The latest work suggests estimates at the northern stockwork of 146.4 million tonnes of molybdenum ore with 270,490 tonnes of contained molybdenum at a grade of 0.19%, and 133.1 million tonnes of tungsten ore with 177,790 tonnes of contained metal, at 0.13%.
The estimated lithium resource at the same site is 45,000 to 55,000 tonnes of lithium at a grade of between 4.1% and 4.5%.
Kemin is planning further work to complete more detailed resource estimates "in the near future".
The firm is currently trying to extend its exploration and production licence for Drozhilovskoye, and it believes the extension will be confirmed by Kazakh authorities by the end of the second quarter of 2018.
Chief Executive Sanzhar Assaubayev commented: "We are very pleased to have put forward a development plan to move the field forward and look forward to continuing our discussions with China Molybdenum in this regard.
"We look forward to updating shareholders with further news as the project develops."