Core Lithium Ltd (ASX:CXO) has made sweeping progress on developing the Finniss Lithium Project in Australia's Northern Territory, having awarded a crushing contract to CSI Mining Services, almost completed the dense media separation (DMS) plant earthworks and secured five new trucks and an excavator, expected to arrive by the end of the month.
CSI will mobilise to site starting next month, contracted to crush run of mine ore that will then be stockpiled and processed by the DMS plant.
The DMS plant will be handed over to the Primero Group at the end of the week, once earthworks have been completed. The plant will be used to process the crushed ore into spodumene concentrate, ready for export.
Grants open pit will be the initial source of ore for the DMS plant until the BP33 Underground Mine – among others – can be brought online.
The additional dump trucks and excavator will enable Core to accelerate this first stage of mining at the Grants pit.
To “significantly ramp up activities”
“The grant of the environmental approval for the BP33 Underground Mine and the award of the crushing contract to CSI have been significant achievements for Core, underpinning both an on-schedule construction timeframe and a pathway to expanded production life of the Finniss Project,” Core Lithium managing director Stephen Biggins said.
“The recent completion of earthworks and handover of part of the site to Primero will allow construction of the DMS plant to commence, which will be a major milestone in itself.
“Core staff and contractors have done a great job getting the site ready for CSI and Primero and with the new mining equipment on-site we are in a position to significantly ramp up activities at Finniss.”
The recent grant of environmental approval for the BP33 Underground Mine marks the end of the Environmental Impact Assessment process for this component of Finniss.
Core intends to lodge a mining management plan (MMP) with the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade for assessment in the coming weeks.
The company has acknowledged a key focus of work includes water management infrastructure for the Finniss Project to better protect the waterways surrounding the project, including the recent completion of sediment and erosion controls involving the construction of a rock filter dam to improve the quality of water discharged from the sediment basin.