Harare – Australian-listed Prospect Resources said it has completed a plant optimisation at its 87 percent owned Arcadia lithium project, in Zimbabwe, to allow for the installation of a high-pressure grinding roll (HPGR).

Last year, Prospect was granted a mining lease covering the Arcadia Lithium Mine covering an area of 1.031 hectares and encompasses some 57 mining claims owned by Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe.

Prospect has noted that the HPGR option would simplify the project’s processing design, replacing tertiary and quaternary crushers, delivering a capital expenditure reduction of some $2.3-million, to $163-million, and reducing operating costs by around 2.46 percent, or $7/t, to around $278/t.

In an announcement on the ASX on Tuesday, MD Sam Hosack said the ongoing and focused value engineering initiatives have delivered positive outcomes and have demonstrated that HPGR technology can be used in the Arcadia lithium project’s processing plant.

Hosack said that Prospect is currently undertaking additional value engineering initiatives at Arcadia, including a review into the project’s logistics.

“We are focusing our efforts on identifying further cost reductions and operating improvements in order to strengthen the Arcadia lithium project’s economics,” he said.

A 2017 prefeasibility study estimated that the project could produce 75 000 t/y of spodumeme concentrate, ramping up to between 123 000 t/y and 155 000 t/y petalite concentrates and 88 000 t/y tantalite concentrates over the life of the mine.

The project is estimated to have a 15-year mine life.

Prospect Resources Limited (ASX:PSC) is an ASX listed, Africa-focused, Lithium and Battery Minerals company based in Perth with operations in Zimbabwe, and exploration activities in Zimbabwe and the DRC.

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