Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
Arizona Lithium (ASX: AZL) announced on Monday that it has entered into a mining services agreement with Navajo Transitional Energy Company (NTEC) for the Big Sandy project, located between Phoenix and Las Vegas.
As a wholly owned subsidiary of the Navajo Nation, NTEC will oversee permitting requirements, conduct additional exploration drilling, design mining operations, carry out environmental assessments, and manage the development of the lithium project.
A very shallow, flat-lying mineralized sedimentary lithium resource, Big Sandy has indicated and inferred (JORC compliant) resources of 32.5 million tonnes grading 1,850 parts per million lithium for 320,800 tonnes of Li2CO3 (lithium carbonate), as estimated after a 2019 drill program.
“Big Sandy represents a substantial development opportunity holding 320,800 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), with only 4% of the project drilling, providing significant exploration upside once permitted,” Arizona Lithium managing director Paul Lloyd said in a news release.
As part of the latest agreement, NTEC chief executive officer Vern Lund, with more than 25 years in the mining industry, will become a member of the Arizona Lithium board.
Shares of Arizona Lithium rose 4.1% in Monday trading on the ASX. The company has a market capitalization of A$114 million ($75 million).
