Core Lithium plans to sell first spodumene shipment via auction

Core Lithium (ASX: CXO) is moving expeditiously as Australia's newest lithium miner, uncovering its first spodumene ore in September with plans to make its first ore shipment by year end.

The company said it received a high level of interest for its spodumene ore and plans to sell it via a tender process using a digital exchange platform.

This will make Core the second ASX-listed lithium miner to take its product to an auction, behind Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) and its Digital Battery Material Exchange platform.

Offtake refresher

Core said the commissioning of its crushing and screening plant is on track to support the production of spodumene concentrate in the first-half of 2023.

As a refresher, Core currently has three offtake agreements in place with:

Source: Core Lithium | Table: Market Index

Note: the tonnage is for the duration of the offtake deal and pricing uses a formula-based referencing of market prices.

Notwithstanding any upgrades to resource or production and assuming Tesla takes up the full 110,000 tonnes, the three deals will take up approximately 92.6% of Core's forecasted annual production of 191,700 tonnes of spodumene.

Skyrocketing auction prices

The move to sell spodumene via auction is another exciting way for investors to monitor lithium prices.

The auction results from Pilbara Minerals has painted a rather bullish picture for lithium and how the demand tightness continues to drive record prices almost every month.

Recent auction results include:

• Sep 22: US$6,988/t

• Aug 22: US$6,350/t

• Jul 22: US$6,188/t

• Jul 21: US$1,250/t

Exploration upside

Core Lithium has almost 500km₂ of tenure surrounding its flagship Finniss Project.

In parallel with the above update, Core provided the results for three recently completed deep diamond drilling holes at the BP33 prospect.

"Visual observations of deep diamond holes ... confirmed that all three intersected variable thicknesses of spodumene mineralised pegmatite at depths below any previous drilling," said Core Lithium in a statement.

"Collectively, these drill intersections combine to define and double the depth extend of the pegmatite hosting the BP33 mineralisation."

The company said it expects the findings to "result in an increase in the Mineral Resource estimate."

Core Lithium share price chart