Why Rose is so valuable. read to endIBB,
On the metallurgy, it is all part of the PFS currently happening, I didn't get any dates on that part, but have stressed it myself as being important.
I don't actually have any problems with it, as many of the pegmatites are extensions of many of PLS ones or vice versa.
Their original metallurgy was done by Nagrom, in a process looking for Chemical grade. 3 years later Nagrom have used a slightly different flowsheet to get the Technical grade for PLS. They do a floatation at the beginning of the process to get rid of the mica, AJM's process didn't do that, so the mica particles carry the iron in the final concentrate.
My suspicion is that by using the same methodology on AJM's ore, as PLS are doing will come up with pretty much the same results.
However I do have to take on board Blastfurnaces concerns about only a small proportion of PLS's ore making the technical grade, and did note the original ore that got that grade in the tests was 2% ore.
It is one of the reasons that both of the companies may HAVE to work together as neither has enough of the 2%+ ore that is needed to produce enough technical grade, but both together might come up to 10-15mt of Technical grade, with the other 60-70mt of ore not making TG. I'm sure further testing is happening right now to see if that is the case with PLS's ore.
It might be the same with AJM in that only the ore starting at 2% will reach technical grade.
It kind of explains why Greenbushes are the only others in the world to reach that grade, they have a lot of over 2% ore.
I noticed in one of the articles I was reading today, and a fairly recent one, claiming that for batteries, industrial grade LCE at 99.5%+ (chemical grade) was selling for $6,500/t, EV grade (Technical grade) 99.9%+ was selling for $8,500/t, and EV+ grade 99.99%+ was at $12,500/t.