I may have been premature in my negative assessment about Hudbay's potential interest in the lithium space in Snow Lake Manitoba.
Lithium production was once shut down in Manitoba. But now that has changed! It is now poised for a period of much faster growth in the production and processing of many of its massive available resources.
"...Manitoba’s lithium mining has seen significant growth in recent years. The Tanco Mine, near Bernic Lake in the Lac Du Bonnet mining district, had been running since 1969 but gave up on lithium several decades ago, when demand for the metal was low. In 2019, the mine was bought by the Chinese mining company Sinomine, and lithium production was back up and running last year. Sinomine now plans to
ramp up lithium production by investing $176 million in a new concentrator that can handle six times the volume of ore..."
"...Snow Lake Lithium — owned by Australia-based NOVA minerals — promises to open a fully electric lithium mine in northern Manitoba. The company has a partnership deal with battery manufacturer LG Energy Solutions to develop and supply a lithium hydroxide processing plant in southern Manitoba.
Companies like Foremost Lithium, ACME minerals and Hudbay have also snatched up lithium exploration rights near Snow Lake and Bissett, hoping to capitalize on the need for critical minerals to fuel electrification..."
https://thenarwhal.ca/manitoba-mining-boom/
I have seen no other sources other than this one (The Narwhal) which have ever suggested to me that Hudbay might be interested in the profit potential in the Snow Lake regional lithium space in future years.
If this might actually prove to be the case, then I would expect that Hudbay would be in the best financial situation to build the first local lithium concentrator in this part of Manitoba.
"...The owners of the only producing lithium mine in the country are preparing to invest $176 million to build a new concentrator in Manitoba, which may be a precursor to an even larger investment in the province.
Tantalum Mining Corp. of Canada Ltd., which owns the lithium Tanco Mine near Lac du Bonnet, has already begun preliminary work on the site and is in discussions with neighbouring Sagkeeng First Nation.
Consultants are preparing the information needed to apply for permits.
The new processor will be able to handle 3,000 tonnes of ore per day as opposed to its current capacity of 500 tonnes per day.
Bill Curry, vice-president of North American business for Tantalum, said the additional capacity that will become available will initially be deployed to reprocess the mine’s tailings to extract lithium and cesium.
“We currently have over 60 years worth of tailings,” he said. “We know there is recoverable amounts of lithium and cesium in the out tailings.”
The mine was acquired by Sinomine Resources Group Co., Ltd., a Chinese-owned company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, in 2019.
Last November, the federal government announced a new policy that it would not allow state-owned enterprises to own critical minerals in Canada. Lithium is one such critical mineral.
While the parent company has approved the capital expense, Curry said he understands he will still need to negotiate his way around the federal government’s policy.
The federal government has already ordered Sinomine to sell its five per cent stake in Vancouver-based Power Metals.
“We understand it is just one additional hoop we need to go through to be able to build this plant,” he said. “But we want to build it. It is a good idea.’
For many years it was concentrated on mining tantalum, but with the increased demand for lithium — used in batteries that are now in desperate demand for the electric vehicle market — the company recently refocused its efforts on lithium production at the Tanco mine.
But even with its increased focus on lithium and the work it can do on its tailings, the additional capacity will mean Tanco will have to somehow find additional tonnage to satisfy the additional capacity.
Curry said one way to do that will be to find outsourced feed..."
"...Tanco and Sinomine are also thinking about the possibility of investing in a much larger lithium hydroxide plant, which would process the lithium into a state that the battery manufacturers need.
That would require about a $1-billion investment.
Snow Lake Lithium, a lithium exploration company with a promising lithium property near Snow Lake, has signed a memorandum of understanding with LG Energy Solutions, a large Korean battery manufacturer, to investigate the possibility of building a lithium hydroxide plant in Manitoba.
But Snow Lake Lithium is now under new management and that plan may no longer be in place.
Dale Schultz, the company’s vice-president of resource development and a member of the board, said that company is now talking to both Tanco and LG..."
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/2023/02/28/mining-company-set-to-invest-176m-in-new-concentrator
Snow Lake Resources, now under new management seems to be reconsidering its present options and may now be more inclined to ship by rail, ore from its Snow Lake mines, to a greatly expanded Tanco Mining complex many hundreds of miles to the south which would become a great central hub for such shipments.
There are many options now being considered at this time by many players. But the demand for lithium is about to grow by leaps and bounds in the electric auto battery space.
If Hudbay is confirmed as one of the interested players, then that news would also help rapidly grow attention to the lithium space in Manitoba.
But if Hudbay is really interested in participating in Snow Lake's lithium future, then they had better not be too late, to the game!
Good money can be made in the mining of lithium too! The pay back period still matters as well as the mine life!
But there is a plentiful supply of lithium in Snow Lake, available to mine!
Rockcliff Metals has recently discovered a significant potential lithium resource close to their already discovered Bur copper/zinc deposit, also located nearby to Hudbay's Snow Lake mills and concentators.
For Rockcliff, these are still early days for them in the lithium space. But the future for them here, could still be huge! They may have a very significant source of lithium bearing pegmatite formations on site that may provide ore of very high grade potential!
Rockcliff shareholders are still waiting for the drilling news from Bur.
Just like high grade matters in the copper space, where smaller ore bodies may still be mined, high grade also matters in the lithium arena, where future lower lithium prices, may make some lower grade lithium deposits, virtually worthless to mine.
Snow Lake has an abundant source of higher grade lithium deposits. But it lacks a local concentrator to create a higher value product that is cheaper to transport to market.
What company will be first to build one in Snow Lake? Hudbay Mining or Snow Lake Resources?
Hudbay is a knowledgeable hard rock miner and processor.
Perhaps they could build a Bur regional processing facility that could both mill, separate and concentrate copper, zinc and lithium, at the very same time?
They already have that knowledge with respect to the separation of base metals from gold and silver. It's easy for them to do that!
Or they could just build another lithium separator nearer to their present day Snow Lake milling operations. As experts, that would be their decision to make.
Maybe they might need the additional space available at Bur to build out some new milling infrastucture and any necessary new tailings facility that they may now lack at Snow Lake?
Separation of components in the mineral arena is a specialty that they are really good at doing well! Getting rid of tailings in an evironmentally friendly way, is what they are also mandated, to do well!
It would be cheaper for them to build a 200 or 300 million dollar lithium/copper/zinc concentrator and separator, at Bur, than to build a better one, that could directly feed the battery industry, perhaps worth more than one billion dollars!
Hudbay as big as it is, still has many other international projects underway, that also need additional funding! They now have a lot on their plate to manage!
But start smaller, then get bigger!
Snow Lake mining has the potential to continue on, for many decades, yet to come!
It would be much cheaper for Hudbay to initially ship a lower concentrated lithium product by rail south, to a one billion dollar lithium hydoxide plant, already owned and operated by another company, once it is finally built. Or they could just ship a simple concentrated lithium product, anywhere in the world.
It just has to be a profit making operation!
The demand for lithium is going to be huge!
This is just my speculation for now.
But it's just something to think about as a potential Rockcliff investor!
Now you may understand why I am staying invested!
Perhaps you should too?
A 2 cent stock is a pretty sweet deal!
All the best Java