Updated study values Lithium Power's Maricunga project at $1.43B

An updated definitive feasibility study on Lithium Power International Ltd.'s Maricunga stage 1 lithium brine project in Chile outlined a posttax net present value of $1.43 billion, discounted at 8%, with an internal rate of return of 39.6% and a payback period of two years.

Maricunga is expected to produce 15,200 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent annually over a 20-year mine life, with capital costs pegged at $626 million and operating costs anticipated at $3,718 per tonne of lithium carbonate equivalent produced, excluding credits from potassium chloride byproducts.

Lithium Power unit Minera Salar Blanco SpA in May 2021 signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with Mitsui & Co. Ltd. to explore the possibility of forming a strategic alliance for the development of Maricunga. The pact is expected to become binding by the first quarter.