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Geumyang·Democratic Republic of Congo 'hand in hand'... Lithium mine development
[Seoul Economy TV = Reporter Hyeyoung Kim] Co., Ltd.
Geumyang (001570)The Democratic Republic of Congo will partner with a resource development company to develop a lithium mine.
Kumyang Corporation announced on the 12th that it had signed an MOU with a local resource development company to develop and acquire ownership of the Manono mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where lithium, tin, and coltan are presumed to be buried.
The 'Manono Mine' is located in the southeastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, near the border with Tanzania. The place where Geumyang signed the MOU is located at the southern end of the Manono Mine, located 5km to the south of the lithium mine zone, which is being jointly developed by Australian resource development company AVZ and China's CATL.
The mine owned by AVZ is one of the world's largest lithium development projects, with an estimated lithium ore reserve of 400 million tons, and the quality of lithium contained in the ore is high at 1.65%, the company explained. AVZ announced in 2020 in Fiji According to Biliity Study, it is estimated that 700,000 tons of spodumene per year can be mined over 20 years, the company added.
In September 2021, AVZ sold a 24% stake in the mine to a Chinese CATL subsidiary for 240 million dollars (about 330 billion won).
According to a Geumyang official, the area where the MOU was signed is 36% of the AVZ mine area. In this case, it is possible to secure production of 250,000 tons of spodumene (6% lithium content) per year worth 1 trillion won to 2 trillion won, which is equivalent to 20,000 tons of lithium hydroxide used in cathode materials, which is equivalent to the production of 500,000 electric vehicles. The company emphasized that Korea will stably secure lithium raw materials.
Park Soon-hyuk, director of public relations at Geumyang, said, “After signing this MOU, we plan to sign this contract within one to two months and secure more than 60% of the stake in the mine with an initial development investment of KRW 35 billion to KRW 40 billion.” The reserves will be determined, and tin and coltan are expected to be supplied to the market in one to two years, and lithium in four years.”
Meanwhile, in addition to lithium, it is estimated that 50,000 tons of tin per year and coltan, a raw material for rare metals essential for mobile phones and computers, are stored in this mine, the Geumyang side added./
hyk@seadaily.com