Diamond & Specialty Minerals Summary for June 14, 2022
2022-06-14 19:48 ET - Market Summary
by Will Purcell
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Jean-Sebastien Lavallee's Critical Elements Lithium Corp. (CRE) rose three cents to $1.47 on 740,000 shares. The company has rolled out a feasibility study for its Rose lithium project in the James Bay district of Quebec. The study proposes a 17-year mine that would run at 4,600 tonnes per day, processing a reserve of 26.3 million tonnes averaging 0.87 per cent lithium oxide and 138 parts per million tantalum.
The $160-million plan supports a discounted net present value of $1.9-billion (U.S.) after taxes and a hold-onto-your-hat internal rate of return of 82.4 per cent. That was enough that Mr. Lavallee, president and CEO, let the numbers do the cheering, but veteran investors will remind you that Critical Elements has been here before at Rose.
Five years ago, the company cheered a positive feasibility study for Rose, one that derived a discounted net present value of $726-million after taxes and an internal rate of 35 per cent. Mr. Lavallee was "very pleased" to applaud that study, which he deemed "the most important milestone of Critical Elements to date." Perhaps it was -- and is again -- but financing the proposed mine has, so far at least, proved to be a milestone too far for the company.
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