Pursuit Minerals targets lithium production next year

Pursuit Minerals in final stages of commissioning for Rio Grande Sur pilot plant
Production of 99.5% Lithium Carbonate expected by end of Q1 2025
New staged approach to be incorporated into feasibility studies

Special Report: Pursuit Minerals says its pilot plant for the Rio Grande Sur project in Argentina is in the final stages of commissioning – and is expecting first production of technical grade 99.5% lithium carbonate by end of Q1 2025.

The region is home to a range of world-class projects, with mining giant Rio Tinto’s planning develop a 60,000tpa, US$2.5bn lithium carbonate operation at the Rincon Salar in Salta province – which is expected to enhance Salta’s position as a key lithium hub.

The company’s Rio Grande Sur plant is now in the final stages of commissioning the initial processing circuit with recent completion of the boiler installation along with the centrifuge and other final components to begin processing lithium brine.

“Alongside our recent resource upgrade, the work progressing the lithium carbonate plant for its first production positions the Rio Grande Sur project as a potential large-scale, low-cost lithium project,” Pursuit Minerals (ASX:PUR) managing director and CEO Aaron Revelle said.

“The pilot plant is on track to produce its first lithium carbonate in Q1 2025, following final commissioning and circuit adjustments.”

At the same time, the company is advancing offtake discussions, with multiple potential partners requesting lithium carbonate samples, Revelle said.

Staged processing the plan

The plan is to kick things off with a Stage 2 facility producing in the low thousands of tonnes per annum at the Sal Rio 02 tenement, alongside the Stage 1 – 250tpa continuous operation.

This approach ensures a more manageable and capital-efficient development process while maintaining strong profitability in the current price environment, with lithium prices ranging between US$10,000-11,000/t.

Following the successful implementation of Stage 2, Pursuit would then progress to evaluating a Stage 3 expansion targeting production in the tens of thousands of tonnes, unlocking further scale and value.

This new staged approach is in part thanks to a recent resource upgrade to ~1.1Mt lithium carbonate equivalent at 505.8mg/L Li.

That has created opportunities to optimise planned production via a staged approach, which the company says drives higher profitability from lower-cost brine operations while ensuring a more manageable capital outlay.

“Leveraging these developments, Pursuit is realigning its ongoing feasibility studies toward a staged development approach, starting with the 250t plant and its relocation to site for a continuous lithium carbonate operation,” Revelle said.

Once relocated, the Salta facility will enable continuous processing under on site conditions technically derisking future larger scale plants.

“This strategy prioritises higher profitability from lower cost brine operations while ensuring manageable capital requirements as production scales into the thousands and, ultimately, tens of thousands of tonnes of lithium carbonate,” Revelle said.

“The company is looking forward to completion of these significant milestones that will accelerate Pursuit’s ambitions to move toward being a lithium carbonate producer.”

Pursuit expects the initial feasibility studies regarding this staged production approach to be released in the first half of 2025.

This article was developed in collaboration with Pursuit Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.