Lepidico revised its strategy for the integrated Karibib Lithium Mica project phase I after a prospective partner’s battery supply chain development plans in Europe were undermined.
Although the Lepidico chairperson did not reveal the partner’s name, Gary Johnson said this led the company to pivot its approach to a lower-risk staged implementation.
Lepidico will now prioritise the development of Karibib lepidolite concentrate ahead of the downstream chemical plant.
Karibib is a brownfield redevelopment of Rubicon and Helikon mines with an ore reserve of 9.4 Mt at 0.43% Li2O, 278 ppm Cs, 2.00% K, and 0.21% Rb.
Phase 1 is a vertical integration that will reap the entire value chain benefits—from ore mining to fine chemical manufacture—via our proprietary hydrometallurgical technologies, including L‑Max® and LOH‑Max®.
Ore will be transported to run-of-mine crusher stockpiles, with various grades of ore requiring individual inventories.
The rehandling of ore from stockpiles is needed to balance the feed grade to the concentrator.
A fleet of one 50-ton excavator and four 35-ton trucks can adequately support the mining schedule for the first half of the mine life.
Lepidolite concentrate will be shipped from Namibia to a chemical conversion plant at the KEZAD industrial park in Abu Dhabi.
The conversion plant has a concentrated capacity of 6.9 tph (tons per hour), producing up to 5,700 tpa of lithium hydroxide.
Phase 1 output is estimated at between 4,000 tons and 5,000 tpa of nominal battery-grade lithium product, along with a suite of high-value and bulk by-products, with no solid process waste, making Phase 1 a highly sustainable operation.
Johnson said Lepidico has engaged Jefferies International Ltd. under a new advisory agreement to secure a partner for Karibib rather than the previous vertically integrated project model.
“This process is ongoing, with the current timeline envisaging the deal to close in the first half of calendar 2025,” he said.
Johnson added that Lepidico is now well advanced in securing an institutional investment for bridge finance to provide the working capital needed for Jefferies to conclude its mandate.
