CORE BP33 Finniss Lithium Project Instruction Manual

June 1, 2024
CORE

CORE BP33 Finniss Lithium Project

CORE-BP33-Finniss-Lithium-Project-Product

Product Information

Specifications

  • Product Name: Core Lithium Ltd
  • Production Stage: Finniss Lithium Project
  • Location: Australia
  • Logistics: 88km by Road from Darwin Port

Product Usage Instructions

  • Overview
    The Core Lithium Ltd product is a lithium producer located in Australia. It focuses on sustainable operations and contributes to a lower carbon future. The product involves mining, conventional blast, load, and haul open pit mining.

  • Operation
    The operation involves the commissioning of the Crushing Plant in October 2022, the DSO Sale in December 2022, the First concentrates produced in February 2023, and the First Concentrate Sale in May 2023.

  • Sustainability
    The product emphasizes sustainability with initiatives such as agreements with CareFlight, dust and noise exposure management, capital works programs, sediment basin conversions, water quality monitoring, fire and weed control, and supporting local recipients.

  • Mining Performance
    The mining performance has improved significantly, with Grant’s pit wall stability managed by a suite of improvement projects.

FAQ

  • Q: What is the primary focus of Core Lithium Ltd?
    A: The primary focus is on safe, reliable, and sustainable operations that consider the well-being of people, the environment, and the community.

  • Q: Where is Core Lithium Ltd located?
    A: Core Lithium Ltd is located close to Darwin City in Australia, with excellent logistics chain connectivity.

Site visit presentation
Grants operation and BP33 Project

Important and cautionary notes

  • This presentation has been prepared by Core Lithium Ltd (“Core”, “Company”) and provides a general overview of the Company and its strategy.
  • This presentation does not purport to be all-inclusive or to contain all the information that you or any other party may require to evaluate the prospects of the Company. None of the Company, any of its related bodies corporate or any of their representatives assume any responsibility for or makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, concerning the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the information contained in this presentation and none of those parties have or assume any obligation to provide any additional information or to update this presentation. The information in this presentation should be read in conjunction with Core’s other periodic and continuous disclosure announcements lodged with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), which are available at www.asx.com.au.
  • To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Company, its respective affiliates and representatives, related bodies corporate, officers, employees, partners, agents and advisers make no representation or warranty (express or implied) as to the currency, accuracy, reliability, reasonableness or completeness of the information in this presentation and expressly disclaims all responsibility and liability for any loss or damage arising in respect of your reliance on the information contained in this presentation (including your reliance on the accuracy, completeness or reliability of that information), or any errors in or omissions from this presentation, including any liability arising from negligence.
  • The Finniss Lithium Project as described in this presentation is at the production stage, and potential investors should understand that mineral exploration, development and mining are high-risk undertakings. There is no guarantee that the Finniss Lithium Project can be economically exploited.
  • This document contains statements that may be forward-looking statements. No representation or warranty is given, and nothing in this presentation or any other information made available by the Company or any other party should be relied upon as a promise or representation, as to the future condition of the respective businesses and operations of the Company.

Competent Person Statements
Core confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in previous announcements (as may be cross-referenced in the body of this announcement) and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the Mineral Resource estimates, Ore Reserve estimates, production targets and forecast financial information continue to apply and have not materially changed. This release contains “forward-looking information” that is based on the Company’s expectations, estimates and projections as of the date on which the statements were made. This forward-looking information includes, among other things, statements concerning feasibility studies, the Company’s business strategy, plan, development, objectives, performance, outlook, growth, cash flow, projections, targets and expectations, and Mineral Resources and Reserves.

Currency
Unless otherwise stated, all cashflows are in Australian dollars, are undiscounted and are in real terms (not subject to inflation/escalation factors), and all years are calendar years. C1 Operating Costs references in USD throughout this presentation have been derived by converting AUD using an exchange rate of 0.70 AUD/USD.

Forward‐looking Statements
Generally, this forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as ‘outlook’, ‘anticipate’, ‘project’, ‘target’, ‘likely’,’ believe’, ’estimate’, ‘expect’, ’intend’, ’may’, ’would’, ’could’, ’should’, ’scheduled’, ’will’, ’plan’, ’forecast’, ’evolve’ and similar expressions. Persons reading this release are cautioned that such statements are only predictions and that the Company’s actual future results or performance may be materially different. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein, including but not limited to general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the actual results of current exploration, development and construction activities; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future prices of lithium; possible variations of ore grade or recovery rates; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accident, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; and delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect forward-looking information. These and other factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking information. The Company disclaims any intent or obligations to or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, estimates, or options, future events or results or otherwise, unless required to do so by law. Statements regarding plans for the Company’s mineral properties may contain forward-looking statements concerning future matters that can be only made where the Company has a reasonable basis for making those statements.

Past Performance
Past performance information given in this presentation is given for illustrative purposes only and should not be relied upon as (and is not) an indication of future performance.

Australia’s newest lithium producer

  • October 2022
    Commissioning of Crushing Plant

  • December 2022
    DSO Sale

  • February 2023
    First concentrates produced

  • May 2023
    First Concentrate Sale

CORE-BP33-Finniss-Lithium-Project-Fig- \(1\)

Sustainability

  • Critical Risk Management implementation across sites, projects and exploration
  • Establishment of emergency response capabilities
    • agreement in place with CareFlight
  • Health monitoring
    • dust and noise exposure
  • Wet season update
    • $11M capital works program to increase storage
    • high-efficiency sediment basin conversions
    • water quality monitoring
  • Land management
    • fire and weed control
  • Community Grants scheme commenced
    • over 20 local recipients in 2023
    • next round to be released in Feb 2024
  • Sponsorship of Darwin Festival
  • Sponsorship Charles Darwin University Student passes to Mining the Territory Conference
  • Engagement of Kenbi Rangers for country activity and environmental activities
  • Attendance at local markets
  • Engagement with local schools
  • Engagement with NTG on environment, roads and infrastructure
  • Quarterly newsletters distributed to community

“We embrace our role in the energy transition and acknowledge our responsibility to sustainably manage our operations to contribute to a lower carbon future. As we grow in maturity, Core’s focus is on safe, reliable, and sustainable operations that consider the wellbeing of our people, the environment and the community in which we operate.”

CORE-BP33-Finniss-Lithium-Project-Fig- \(2\)

Excellent logistics chain close to Darwin City and Port

88km by Road from Darwin Port

CORE-BP33-Finniss-Lithium-Project-Fig- \(3\)

Darwin Port is 88km by sealed road – Australia’s closest port to China

  • existing bulk handling facilities

Capital City of Darwin

  • international airport
  • all services and contractors
  • drive-in/drive-out workforce

Well-established relationships with the Northern Territory Government

Mining

Conventional blast, load and haul open pit mining, improvement projects underway

Mining performance improved ending October strongly

  • mining productivity improvement led to an 8% increase in Q1 TMM compared to the previous quarter
  • blasting and dig unit availability improvement led to record ore extraction in September
  • the plant saw a more consistent ore feed with improved operations in the pit

Grants pit wall stability is managed by

  • two IDS Hydra radars
  • prism monitoring
  • manual extensometers
  • drone imagery
  • laser scanning

Fleet

  • 4 x excavators
    • 2 x Liebherr 19200
    • 2 x Liebherr 9150
  • 18 x 100t haul trucks
  • 5 x dozers

Focus on ROM build

  • 248,000t on 13 November

A suite of improvement projects

  • Hot seating
  • Pre-start improvement
  • Critical spares management
  • Additional drill rig
  • Increased ROM storage capacity and stockpile

CORE-BP33-Finniss-Lithium-Project-Fig- \(4\)

Ability to draw on a skilled workforce – 300+ local

CORE-BP33-Finniss-Lithium-Project-Fig- \(5\)

NOTE
The third-party local employment rates are in August 2023. Throughout the project, there has been interstate employment to assist with shortfalls.

Processing

Flowsheet is now being optimised

CORE-BP33-Finniss-Lithium-Project-Fig- \(7\)

  • Crush to 10mm top size
  • Reagent medium–FeSi
  • Dense spodumene separates well from lighter quartz/feldspar using gravity separation

Improvements in wet season preparedness

Improving surface water and mine water management

  • Additional mine water dams
  • Additional sediment basins
  • Installation of monitoring gauge stations, water level sensors
  • Additional pumps, piping infrastructure
  • Additional manning for water management
  • Increased space on the ROM pad
  • Road sheeting with imported rock

Recovery improvement trials seeing an uplift

Improvement projects

CORE-BP33-Finniss-Lithium-Project-Fig- \(9\) CORE-
BP33-Finniss-Lithium-Project-Fig- \(10\)

Recovery improved to 56% in October

Recoveries continue to improve in November

CORE-BP33-Finniss-Lithium-Project-Fig- \(11\)

Spodumene concentrate production
(tonnes) vs recovery (%), (RHS)

CORE-BP33-Finniss-Lithium-Project-Fig- \(12\)

Note: The Ave con grade for October was 4.5%.

BP33 Site works are well underway

3D Design for BP33 Box Cut

CORE-BP33-Finniss-Lithium-Project-Fig- \(13\)

  • Box cut length 288m
  • Box cut depth 40m(design)
  • 354,390t excavated(393,348t total)
  • All 2,062 steel tunnel segments for the covered box cut have been delivered to the site
  • Box cut – Tunnel Liner foundations under construction (October 2023)
  • Wide end of BP33 Box Cut (October 2023)
  • 800t of steel reinforcing for arch footings
  • The concrete batch plant (with cooling) is now on site. Footings for tunnel liners are now being installed.

Appendix

Q1 2024 summary
Ramp up continuing – improvements in both mining and processing

Management Commentary

  • Concentrate production of 20,692t at an average 5.0% Li2O grade with all products meeting customer specification
  • Grants pit wall stability monitoring continues with a second radar installed
  • Wet season preparedness is well-progressed and includes haul road upgrades and investment in water storage facilities and new dewatering equipment
  • As of 31 October, there were 248,000t of ore on the ROM pad
  • Recovery of 50% was achieved for the quarter compared to 49% previous quarter with adjustments to screen sizing, reagent set points and other process parameters
  • Agreement finalised with one customer to allow acceptance of concentrate with a minimum grade of 4.5%. A similar agreement is being finalised with our second for the FY24 period.
  • Test work and trials to improve plant recoveries continued as a priority

Quarterly Operating Performance

    Q3 FY23 Q4 FY23 Q1FY24
Production      
Spodumene concentrate produced tonnes 3,589 14,685 20,692
Recovery % 47 49 50
Sales      
DSO Shipments tonnes 14,774
Spodumene Concentrate Shipments tonnes 5,423 23,424
Concentrate grade shipped % n/a 5.4 5.2
Lithium fines shipped tonnes 15,002

Finniss operational update

Costs are broadly in line, cash is impacted by shipment timing and QP adjustment

  • C1 unit costs of $904/t were broadly in line with the previous quarter
  • The build-up in ore on the ROM pad resulted in $985/t being deferred to inventory
  • Before inventory movements, cash operating unit costs of $1,889/t were 11% higher than the previous quarter, due to a lower strip ratio, resulting in a higher proportion of the mining costs being expensed (rather than capitalised)
  • Closing cash of $202.1 million included $107.9 million in proceeds from the equity raise and SPP in August
  • The operating cash outflow of $25.97 million reflects:
    • the timing of shipments, with 8,527t of concentrate at the Darwin port on 30 September, which was included in the early October shipment; and
    • the repayment of $27.7 million to Yahua, in respect of a QP adjustment. The QP adjustment resulted from the significant fall in the lithium spodumene price between the date of prepayment and the end of the quotation period.
  • Excluded from the cashflows in the quarter are the cash receipts relating to the 13,100t shipment in July. These tonnes were part of the prepayment arrangement with Yahua with the cash received in Q4FY23.

Quarterly Operating Performance

    Q3 FY23 Q4 FY23 Q1FY24
Cost of production      
Cash operating unit cost A$/t 2,386 1,691 1,889
Inventory and other (non-cash) A$/t (198) (789) (985)
C1 unit cost A$/t FOB 2,188 902 904
C1 unit cost plus royalties A$/t FOB 2,323 1,416 1,067

BP33: SITE WORKS
Box Cut – Tunnel Liner foundations under construction (October 2023)

CORE-BP33-Finniss-Lithium-Project-Fig- \(14\)

The concrete batch plant (with cooling) is now on site. Footings for tunnel liners are now being installed.

FINNISS MINERAL RESOURCES

Mineral Resource Estimate for the Finniss Lithium Operation (0.5% Li 2O cut-off)

Mineral Resource

| Measured| Indicated| Inferred| Total
Tonnes (Mt)| Li2O

%

| Tonnes (Mt)| Li2O

%

| Tonnes (Mt)| Li2O

%

| Tonnes (Mt)| Li2O

%

| Li2O

Contained Metal (kt)

Grants| 1.93| 1.50| 0.61| 1.49| 0.37| 1.27| 2.91| 1.47| 42.7
BP33
| 2.85| 1.44| 6.51| 1.55| 1.14| 1.59| 10.50| 1.53| 160.1
Carlton| 2.20| 1.38| 2.69| 1.39| 1.29| 1.37| 6.18| 1.38| 85.5
Hang Gong| –| –| 1.51| 1.18| 1.95| 1.14| 3.46| 1.16| 40.0
Sandras| –| –| 1.17| 0.92| 0.57| 0.82| 1.73| 0.89| 15.4
Lees #| –| –| 0.88| 1.24| 0.35| 1.05| 1.23| 1.19| 14.6
Ah Hoy| –| –| 0.67| 1.16| 0.38| 1.17| 1.05| 1.16| 12.2
Booths #| –| –| 0.80| 1.05| 0.70| 1.06| 1.50| 1.05| 15.8
Bilatos| –| –| –| –| 1.92| 1.03| 1.92| 1.03| 19.9
Penfolds| –| –| –| –| 0.57| 1.04| 0.57| 1.04| 5.9
Total| 6.98| 1.44| 14.8| 1.37| 9.20| 1.18| 31.10| 1.33| 412.1

Note:
Totals within this table are subject to rounding. * Net decrease due to mining depletion. # Re-classified with no additional data.’ The above Mineral resource is current at the time of release on 18 April 2023 for all resources apart from BP33 which is current as of 16 October 2023.

ASX Release:
“Significant increase to Finniss Mineral Resources” dated 18 April 2023. Total Mineral Resources of 30.6Mt @ 1.31% Li2O. Measured Mineral Resource 6.98Mt @ 1.45% Li2O / Indicated Mineral Resource 12.4Mt @1.33% Li2O. Inferred Mineral Resource 11.3Mt @ 1.21% Li2O.

Core Lithium confirms that the Company is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the Mineral Resource Estimates cross-referenced in this report and confirms that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates continue to apply and have not materially changed. “BP33 Mineral Resource Upgrade” dated 16 October 2023. Core Lithium confirms that the company is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the Mineral Resource Estimates cross-referenced in this report and confirms that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates continue to apply and have not materially changed.

PROJECT PIPELINE AND SUSTAINING GROWTH

CORE-BP33-Finniss-Lithium-Project-Fig- \(15\)

NOTES

ASX Release:
“Significant increase to Finniss Mineral Resources” dated 18 April 2023. Total Mineral Resources of 30.6Mt @ 1.31% Li2O. Measured Mineral Resource 6.98Mt @ 1.45% Li2O/IndicatedMineral Resource 12.4Mt @1.33%Li2O. InferredMineral Resource 11.3Mt @ 1.21%Li2O.

Core Lithium confirms that the Company is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the Mineral Resource Estimates cross-referenced in this report and confirms that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates continue to apply and have not materially changed. “BP33 Mineral Resource Upgrade” dated 16 October 2023. Core Lithium confirms that the company is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the Mineral Resource Estimates cross-referenced in this report and confirms that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates continue to apply and have not materially changed. For full details refer to slide 19.

Core Lithium Ltd Level 9, 2 Mill Street, Perth, WA, 6000

INVESTOR ENQUIRIES

  • Natalie Worley Investor Relations
  • +61 8 8317 1700

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Gerard McArtney
Account Manager +61 421 505 557 Cannings Purple

Authorised for release by the Board of Core Lithium Ltd.

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