Former Rio boss takes Core Lithium post

A former manager with one of Australia’s biggest miners has taken on the top job running one of the country’s newest resources projects. Find out what brought the new boss back to the Territory.

New Core Lithium chief executive Gareth Manderson has an established Territory connection with four years as mine manager at ERA from 2007 to 2011 based in Jabiru.

“My kids’ first camping trips were in Kakadu,” he said.

The Territory connection was in Mr Manderson’s mind as he considered a shift from Rio Tinto, one of the nation’s largest resources companies, to Core Lithium after the resignation of founder Stephen Biggins earlier this year.

Core Lithium chief executive Gareth Manderson.

He joins the company at a pivotal time, with mine preparation about 70 per cent complete and production anticipated to begin this year.

“The opportunity is taking Core Lithium and building a company,” he said.

“The team has gone from exploration to development very quickly getting into an operation and running a business.

“That was actually quite engaging and I saw it as a fantastic way to spend the second-half of my career.”

Core Lithium's Finniss project

The small company’s values partly motivated the job change – setting realistic, unambitious early targets and then building up from there.

“They’ve focused on the minimum project, which is what’s the smallest investment and smallest business that is viable, that will work, and then build from there,” he said.

“I think that’s quite astute and prudent and they will build from there.

“You’ve seen the resource and reserve grow the mine life over the past 12 months from seven years to 12 years, so in parallel with development of the project and getting it up and running and generating cash flow for investors and generating opportunities for local communities.

“They’ve actually also been proving up resources reserves to give the business a longer timeframe, and I actually thing that’s a really good approach.”

Staged expansion drives the Core model, with approvals in the past month of additional tenements across the Territory, in addition to the agreement to supply lithium to Tesla and negotiations with other car manufacturers.

Core Lithium's Finniss project

The additional tenements are around the Shoobridge region of Adelaide River and there are others about 1000km from Darwin, three hours north of Alice Springs.

“We have an aspiration to be a reasonable player in the lithium market and whether we stick with concentrate or whether we concentrate and hydroxide is not determined, but I think we could be a sizeable producer if we can prove up the resource,” Mr Manderson said.

The company’s entry into downstream processing, with assistance from a Federal Government grant, could follow proving up the resource to secure the mine’s life.

Two companies Gangfeng and Sichuan Yahua are currently contracted to process the resource but homegrown processing is an option.

Core Lithium's Finniss project

“We’ve embarked upon a study with support from the government on a facility in the Northern Territory and we’re also looking at other options for downstreaming such as a partnerships and that’s a possibility for the future if we can identify sufficient resource,” Mr Manderson said.

At the moment however Core’s focus is the Finniss concentrator, the crushing plant, the pit and deposits around the Finniss.

“We’re no use to the community unless we have a good solid, sound successful business but by the same token we’re not going to be particularly successful if the community isn’t comfortable and supportive,” he said.

“Bringing those two together means we can contribute back.

“I want to move forward to what opportunities do we bring by working together. What can our contribution be more broadly in the local area.”

Originally published as Former Rio boss takes Core Lithium post