Core Lithium has outlined a three-year plan to resume mining

A Territory miner is exploring options after its shock shutdown. Find out what’s planned next.

Embattled NT miner Core Lithium has detailed a plan to re-open its Finniss operation within three years despite a grim assessment of the critical mineral’s future by Territory Treasury.

‘Preparing to Restart’, a 17-page report released by Core earlier this month covering its lithium operations and exploration profile, outlined a plan for the miner to resume operations at its Grants pit and to recommence work on the BP33 underground mine within one to three years.

Core Lithium opened its Grants mine in late 2022 and last year announced it would begin constructing BP33, an underground mine adjacent to Grants.

An 85 per cent fall in the lithium price in 2023 led to a strategic review and subsequent suspension of operations in January 2024.

Former Core chief executive Gareth Manderson at the official opening of the Finniss Lithium mine Picture: Glenn Campbell

Company chief executive Gareth Manderson stepped down from the role earlier this year.

With cash reserves of $80.4m and zero debt at the end of March, Core’s chief interim executive Doug Warden has backed the company to resume operations.

Despite “wide divergence in forecast spodumene price” highlighting “volatility and uncertainty in the emerging industry”, Preparing to Start anticipated the miner’s return to potential production “dependent on commodity prices”.

Core was “well positioned to take advantage of the next cycle with a restart of Grants and BP33 FID”.

The company also identified more lithium as well as gold at the Pine Creek Orogen prospect during geophysical and geochemical surveys last year.

First direct shipping ore (DSO) Production from Finniss. Core Lithium.

The “five priority lithium targets and one priority gold target in the Finniss project area” have the potential to result in the discovery of large-scale deposits or pegmatite clusters, the report said.

Core said it had a “strong portfolio of prospective ground” at the 47,500sq km Orogen prospect around Pine Creek.

The company compared exploration results at its Finniss, Adelaide River and Shoobridge sites to deposits like Mount Todd and others around Pine Creek.

This week’s budget revealed Territory Treasury isn’t as optimistic about a Core Lithium resurgence, offering a downbeat assessment of lithium.

Treasury forecast a “near term” increase in spodumene prices due to the collapse of miners like Core but said the development of “newer and more efficient battery technologies may soften demand for lithium-powered batteries and place downward pressure on prices over the long term.”

Originally published as Core Lithium has outlined a three-year plan to resume mining