Quarterly Activities and Cash Flow Report for the Quarter Ended 31 December 2023

Quarterly Activities and Cash Flow Report for the Quarter Ended 31 December 2023

Atlantic Lithium takes major stride towards production with grant of historic Mining Lease in respect of the Ewoyaa Lithium Project

The Board of Atlantic Lithium Limited (AIM: ALL, ASX: A11, OTCQX: ALLIF, “Atlantic Lithium” or the “Company”), the African-focused lithium exploration and development company targeting to deliver Ghana’s first lithium mine, is pleased to present its Quarterly Activities and Cash Flow Report for the period ended 31 December 2023.


Highlights from the Reporting Period:

Project Development:

  • Historic Mining Lease, the first for a lithium project in Ghana, granted in respect of the Company’s flagship Ewoyaa Lithium Project (“Ewoyaa” or the “Project”).
    • Grant of the Mining Lease represents a major endorsement from the Government of Ghana and serves as a significant de-risking milestone for the advancement of the Project towards production.
    • The agreed terms of the Mining Lease position Ewoyaa as one of the lowest capital and operating cost hard rock lithium projects globally and indicate the Project’s strong commercial viability and exceptional profitability for a 2.7Mtpa steady state operation, producing a total of 3.6Mt of spodumene concentrate (approximately 350,000tpa) over a 12-year mine life1:
      • Ewoyaa to become one of the top 10 largest spodumene concentrate producers1;
      • Payback period of main processing plant of 9.5 months;
      • C1 cash operating costs of US$377/t of concentrate Free-On-Board (“FOB”) Ghana Port, after by- product credits, All in Sustaining Cost (“AISC”) of US$675/t;
      • Development cost estimate of US$185m; to be substantially funded by Piedmont Lithium Inc. (“Piedmont”) and planned investment by Ghana’s sovereign wealth fund, the Minerals Income Investment Fund (“MIIF”);
      • Post-tax NPV8 of US$1.3bn, with free cash flow of US$2.1bn from Life of Mine (“LOM”) revenues of US$6.6bn, considering a US$1,410/t long-term concentrate price, FOB Ghana.
  • Completion of the Flotation Scoping Study which confirms the viability of the inclusion of a flotation circuit downstream and running independently from the DMS-only processing plant at Ewoyaa for future value addition.
  • Environmental Protection Agency authorisation granted to divert two transmission lines that currently traverse planned mining areas of the Mankessim licence, which contains the Ewoyaa Mining Lease area.
  • Awarded Bulk Customer Permit in respect of the electricity requirements of the Project, expected to deliver a 30- 50% overall power cost reduction for the Project.

Exploration:

  • Maiden JORC (2012) compliant 15.7Mt at 40.2% Feldspar Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) reported for the Project, including 13.7Mt (87%) in the Measured and Indicated categories, based on approximately the first five years of planned production from the Project, as detailed in the Ewoyaa DFS for the Project.
    • Feldspar MRE enables the potential inclusion of feldspar by-product credits in future revisions of the Ewoyaa feasibility studies, believed to drive down operating costs and further enhance the value of the Project.
    • Indicates the possibility for Ewoyaa to become a major producer of domestic feldspar in Ghana, which the Company intends to supply into the local Ghanaian ceramics market.
  • Multiple broad intervals of visible spodumene and 106m continuous pegmatite interval, the longest continuous pegmatite interval reported in the 2023 drilling programme to date, observed from drilling outside of the current Mineral Resource Estimate1 (MRE).
  • Ongoing 2023 drilling programme increased from a planned 18,500m to 26,500m.
    • Further assay results received for 2,362m of resource and metallurgical reverse circulation (“RC”) and diamond core (“DD”) drilling completed at Ewoyaa as part of the enhanced 2023 programme.
    • Post-period end, increased the planned programme by an additional 3,000m of site sterilisation drilling, taking the total planned programme to 29,500m, intended to support mine construction.
  • Grant of highly prospective, undrilled Bewadze and Senya Beraku prospecting licences in the eastern portion of the Company’s Cape Coast Lithium Portfolio in Ghana.
    • Grant of the licences indicates the Government’s support of the Company’s efforts to grow its lithium resources in Ghana.

Corporate:

  • Successful Equity Placing raising A$8m, enabling the completion of the activities agreed under the grant of the Mining Lease for the Project, key items of early works and permitting-related Project expenditure, further extensional drilling, and for working capital purposes.
  • Rejection of two conditional and non-binding offers from the Company’s largest shareholder Assore International Holdings Limited (“Assore”) to acquire all the shares in the Company that it does not already own at an offer price of £0.33 per share (A$0.63); offers rejected on the basis that they undervalued the Company and that they were not in the best interests of shareholders.
  • Appointment of four General Managers as the Company looks to strengthen its leadership team as it transitions towards mine construction and operation.
  • Appointment of highly regarded mining executive Jonathan Henry to the Company’s Board of Directors as Independent Non-Executive Director.
  • Cash on hand at end of quarter was A$9.8m.

Click here for the full ASX Release

This article includes content from Atlantic Lithium, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.

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SQM REPORTS EARNINGS FOR THE NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Highlights


  • SQM reported total revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 of US$3,455.0 million compared to total revenues of  US$6,155.9 million for the same period last year.

  • Net loss (1),(2) for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 of (US$524.5) million or (US$1.84) per share, compared to net income (2) of  US$1,809.5 million or US$6.33 per share for the same period last year.

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  • SPN and Potassium businesses posted healthy growth showing market recovery.

  • Slight increase in iodine prices, due to strong market demand and limited supply.

  • First lithium sales from the SQM International lithium division.

SQM will hold a conference call to discuss these results on Wednesday, November 20, 2024 at 10:00am ET (12:00pm Chile time).

Participant Dial-In (Toll Free): 1-844-282-4852

Participant International Dial-In: 1-412-317-5626

Webcast: https://event.choruscall.com/mediaframe/webcast.html?webcastid=xdNdTppQ

SANTIAGO, Chile , Nov. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) (NYSE: SQM; Santiago Stock Exchange: SQM-B, SQM-A) reported today net loss ( [1] ),(2)   for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 , of (US$524.5) million or (US$1.84) per share, compared to US$1,809.5 million or US$6.33 per share reported for the same period last year.

(PRNewsfoto/Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile, S.A. (SQM))

Gross profit (3) reached US$1,033.3 million (29.9% of revenues) for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 , lower than US$2,674.3 million (43.4% of revenues) recorded for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 . Revenues totaled US$3,455.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 , representing a decrease of 43.9% compared to US$6,155.9 million reported for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 .

The Company also announced net income for the third quarter of 2024 of US$131.4 million or US$0.46 per share, a decrease of 72.6% compared to US$479.4 million or US$1.68 per share for the third quarter of 2023. Gross profit for the third quarter of 2024 reached US$280.8 million , 62.7% lower than the US$753.6 million reported for the third quarter of 2023. Revenues totaled US$1,076.9 million for the third quarter of 2024, a decrease of 41.5% compared to US$1,840.3 million for the third quarter of 2023.

SQM's Chief Executive Officer, Ricardo Ramos , stated, "We are publishing our third quarter 2024 financial results with positive volume growth in almost all of our business lines compared to last year. Fertilizer markets have shown solid market dynamics with a market size recovery. Our Specialty Plant Nutrition volumes grew more than 20% year-on-year while our revenues in this business line increased close to 12%."

He continued, "Iodine demand continued to be strong, leading to an increase in our sales volumes and revenues compared to last year. Prices continued to move up slightly quarter over quarter since the beginning of this year and we have used part of our inventories to answer market needs."

Mr. Ramos further stated, "In lithium, we reported sales volumes of more than 51 thousand metric tons of lithium products, an 18% growth year-on-year, demonstrating strong demand in the market. As anticipated, prices during the third quarter continued their downward trend, with average realized prices 24% lower than the second quarter this year. Although demand continues to grow at a strong pace, mainly driven by strong EV sales growth in China , we continue to see the prices pressured by an oversupply that persists despite the curtailment announcement we have seen over the past few weeks."

Mr. Ramos closed by saying, "Our more than 30-year track record in the lithium market has proved that we have a long-term view in this business. Despite current market prices, we strongly believe in the lithium market and its fundamentals which are highly related to the clean energy transition. SQM is in a strong competitive position and well prepared to continue developing our projects in Chile and abroad to harvest the benefits of this transition."

About SQM

SQM is a global company that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Santiago Stock Exchange (NYSE: SQM; Santiago Stock Exchange: SQM-B, SQM-A). SQM develops and produces diverse products for several industries essential for human progress, such as health, nutrition, renewable energy and technology through innovation and technological development. We aim to maintain our leading world position in the lithium, potassium nitrate, iodine and thermo-solar salts markets.

For further information, contact:

Gerardo Illanes / gerardo.illanes@sqm.com
Isabel Bendeck / isabel.bendeck@sqm.com

For media inquiries, contact:

Maria Ignacia Lopez / ignacia.lopez@sqm.com
Pablo Pisani / pablo.pisani@sqm.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: "anticipate," "plan," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "should," "will" and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make concerning the completion and implementation of the proposed partnership with Codelco, the development of Salar Futuro Project, Company's capital expenditures, financing sources, Sustainable Development Plan, business and demand outlook, future economic performance, anticipated sales volumes and sales prices, profitability, revenues, expenses, or other financial items, anticipated cost synergies and product or service line growth.

Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are estimates that reflect the best judgment of SQM management based on currently available information. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that are outside of our control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated in such statements, including our ability to successfully implement the Sustainable Development Plan. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Readers are referred to the documents filed by SQM with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including the most recent annual report on Form 20-F, which identifies other important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to SQM on the date hereof and SQM assumes no obligation to update such statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

News Provided by PR Newswire via QuoteMedia

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