Galaxy also reports continued success from ongoing drilling at the Mt. Cattlin project. A new pegmatite zone has been discovered northwest of the current resource, including one drill intercept of 9 m grading 2.14% Li2O. The intercept is considered significant, because the grade is approximately double the overall 1.08% Li2O grade of the current Mt. Cattlin resource.

Galaxy is also developing downstream concentrate processing facilities in Jiangsu province, China, about an hour’s drive northwest of Shanghai. Current plans call for construction of a plant to produce 17,000 mt/y of battery-grade lithium carbonate for marketing in China, elsewhere in East Asia, and Europe. Creat, a private Chinese investment company, holds a 19.9% interest in Galaxy and is arranging financing to support the company’s lithium projects.

Estimated capital investment for the combined mine and downstream processing projects is about A$135 million.

Project planning calls for mining and processing 15 million mt of ore over a 15- year period. Key process steps will openpit mining, crushing and screening of runof- mine ore to minus 6 mm, three-stage heavy media separation, gravity concentration (spirals and wet tables) of tantalite minerals, contract dressing and packaging of tantalite concentrates in Perth, and shipment of bulk lithium concentrate through the port of Esperance to Zhangjiagang port in China. The concentrate will be unloaded at wharves located about 500 m for the company’s lithium carbonate plant.