BIKITA Minerals, a lithium miner owned by Chinese firm Sinomine Resource Group, has completed and officially commenced trial productions on its two plants — gravity separation and flotation — at a cost of US$300 million.
“Bikita Minerals is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed and officially commenced trial productions on the new gravity separation plant (petalite) and flotation plant (spodumene),” the lithium miner said in a statement yesterday.
“The new gravity separation plant with an annual capacity of two million tonnes of petalite concentrate was initiated by the company through its own funds and raised capital, with construction work starting in 2022, based on the existing beneficiation plant at the Bikita Mine.”
The gravity separation plant, with a processing capacity of 220 tonnes per hour, is expected to produce 480 000 tonnes of petalite annually.
The newly constructed flotation plant also comes with an annual capacity of two million tonnes of spodumene concentrate.
The company said once the Bikita Minerals Lithium Mine expansion project reaches its production capacity, it is expected to produce 300 000 tonnes of high-quality chemical grade spodumene concentrate annually.
“Commencement of the beneficiation production lines will further enhance the company’s lithium concentrate supply capability and future business performance. Bikita Minerals, under the new owners Sinomine Group, has invested over US$300 million towards plant expansion and exploration,” the statement further read.
The new plants will create an additional 1 000 jobs as the company projects to generate US$500 million from exports in 2023.
Source NewsDay
