| VIEW FROM THE TOP
POWERING UP TO BECOME WORLD’S NEXT MAJOR LITHIUM PRODUCER PETER SECKER CEO of Bacanora Lithium
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Q: Why did Bacanora Lithium choose Mexico to start its
project for almost 10 years and operating our pilot plant
next lithium project?
over the last four years. It has taken us a long time to get
A: We first came to Mexico over 12 years ago, exploring
to where we are.
for borates and other industrial minerals. One of the main indicators of borate is lithium so we sampled a number of
Our pilot plant was created to demonstrate to our off-
outcrops for lithium as well as borates. The lithium project
taker, Hanwa, and to our Japanese manufacturers that the
in Sonora was sampled as part of a regional exploration
quality of the material in Mexico is just as good or better
program about nine years ago and was found to be rich
than anything else in the world. Our goal is to continue
in lithium and so became our priority exploration project
producing high-quality material, at 99.5 percent quality, at
in 2009. Over the past seven years we have continued to
low operating costs. The Sonora project has low operating
sample, drill and evaluate and we now have one of the
costs, which at US$4,000/t makes us as competitive as
biggest lithium deposits in the world.
the best mines in Chile. The company also differentiates itself by having an operating team in Hermosillo and an
Our experience of working in Mexico, especially in Sonora,
off-taker that is also an equity investor. It is one of the
has been extremely positive. The government has been
most advanced lithium projects in the world.
supportive, as have the workforce and landowners. Infrastructure is good and there is a wealth of industrial
The Sonora Lithium project has completed its
support and skilled labor.
Environmental Impact Assessment and received CONAGUA water permits. Our plant design is based on
Global lithium supply is about 250,000t/y and Bacanora’s goal is to produce 17,500t/y, which means it would cover 7 percent of world supply by 2020
the best environmental standards. Q: What financial model is the company using to finance the project? A: We are a public company, listed in London, with a strong shareholder base that includes BlackRock, M&G and our offtake partner Hanwa, each with a 10 percent shareholding. We plan to finance the project with a combination of debt
Q: What steps is the company taking to start production
and equity. The equity will come from our shareholders
on the Sonora project?
and debt from project finance banks. Lithium is quickly
A: We finished the bankable feasibility studies in December
becoming more and more popular thanks to the steady
2017 that outline the construction of the plant that will
growth of Asian demand. Some 95 percent of the world’s
produce 17,500t/y of lithium carbonate. It will cost US$420
lithium batteries are manufactured in Asia.
million to build the plant over 18 months. Processing at the plant is quite standard but we are trying to accelerate
We are the only lithium company listed on the London
the development to be the next producer and we plan to
AIM market. Our shareholder base has always been very
start production by 2020. We have been working on this
London-centric and this is where we see the biggest financial support. In the long term, we might consider joining the BMV but our focus is to start production first
Bacanora Lithium is focused on developing the world’s next
and grow our cashflow.
major lithium project in Mexico. It is commercializing the world-class Sonora Lithium project, which benefits from large,
Q: What other projects does the company have in
scalable and high-grade lithium resources
its pipeline?
