RE: Bids hit$5,650/dmt in Pilbara Minerals’ spodumene auction27 Apr 2022 17:36
Uis project doesn't have spodumene, but let's do some quick math to compare. Afritin will probably ship a 4% Li concentrate. That is roughly 72% of Pilbara Minerals' 5.5% Li concentrate. Apply a further discount, perhaps Afritin's petalite concentrate is worth only 50% of spodumene concentrate. That's still $2,825/dmt. I do not think the long-term price will be this high. However, consider that the Phase 1 petalite could be online at nameplate capacity maybe early next year.
~40,000 tonnes * $2,825/dmt = $113M
~40,000 tonnes * $2000/dmt = $80M
Overall, looks like the Phase 1 expansion can bootstrap Phase 2 exploration quite nicely. Massive drilling campaign needed to prove viability for Phase 2.