VIDEO - Timing to Remain Key for Lithium Producers

Interview conducted by Priscila Barrera; article text by Charlotte McLeod.

Altura Mining (ASX:AJM,OTC Pink:ALTAF) declared commercial production earlier this year at its Altura mine in Australia, entering the lithium space at a time of subdued investor sentiment. 

But like many market watchers, Alex Cheeseman, the company’s general manager of marketing, remains optimistic about the industry’s longer-term future.

“(There have been some) short-term challenges for everyone, but I think, definitely, from everything we’ve heard this morning and seen throughout the year, that the long-term market optics are very positive,” he said on the sidelines of the recent Lithium Supply & Markets Conference.

“There’s such huge and growing demand over the next few years — I think it really is just a small soft period at the moment that we’ll see lift in the very near future.”

For producers like Altura, he believes that the main challenge moving forward will be timing.

“The challenge for us and any other emerging or expanding producer will be to ensure that that product is actually timed well with either additional conversion capacity or additional downstream processing. What we don’t want to do is commit more capital and deliver more spodumene into a market that isn’t ready for it,” he explained.

“So timing will be the important thing for us and other players over the next 12 to 24 months.”

Altura is currently ramping up to nameplate capacity, which it expects to achieve in the near future. According to Cheeseman, the company has completed a definitive feasibility study for a Stage 2 expansion, but will not move forward with this phase until it has gauged interest.

Watch the video above to hear more from Cheeseman on the lithium space, including commentary on price transparency and Australia’s appeal as an operating environment.

You can also click here to watch our full Lithium Supply & Markets Conference playlist on YouTube.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.