Leo Lithium has inked a 10-year port service agreement with Lithium du Mali SA (LMSA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Leo Lithium, and Terminal Vraquier Abidjan (SEA-Invest).
The deal will see the West African lithium developer access port services, including product unloading, storage and shiploading, of the Goulamina Lithium Project spodumene concentrate product at the Abidjan Port in Ivory Coast. The warehouse secured has a footprint of 9,000 sqm for Product storage. This equates to approximately 60,000 tonnes of Product storage. The agreement stipulates a minimum product throughput of 250,000 tonnes per annum however there is no upper limit on quantities which can be exported. The firm confirmed that the facilities are well established and minor upgrades will be completed to enable product receival and export from 1 July 2023, allowing for a potential acceleration of the Goulamina project timeline.
Logistics strategy
LMSA and SEA-Invest will finalise and execute a full operations agreement over the period through to H1 2023. An option for extension will be included in the operations agreement, in line with SEA-Invest’s port concession with the Abidjan Port Authority.
“The first plank of our logistics strategy is now in place. We have secured ideal storage facilities for Goulamina spodumene concentrate product on the berth at the Port of Abidjan, a major West African deep-water harbour suitable for the large bulk carriers that will transport our product to end users. This is a fantastic outcome as it will minimise material movements and optimise logistics costs,” commented Simon Hay, Leo Lithium Managing Director
“We are very pleased to commence our relationship with SEA-Invest, who provide full port services and be an essential link in our supply chain. SEA-Invest have an excellent reputation as an international port operator and have been active in Africa for over 16 years,” he added.
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