The Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) share price is edging higher on Wednesday morning.
In morning trade, the lithium developer's shares are up 1% to $2.88.
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What's going on with the Liontown share price today?
The Liontown share price is rising today after the company announced another step towards producing and selling lithium.
According to the release, Liontown has awarded the $175 million spodumene and direct shipped ore (DSO) haulage services contract for the Kathleen Valley Lithium Project in Western Australia to integrated logistics solutions provider, Qube Holdings Ltd (ASX: QUB).
The release notes that Qube was selected for the five-year contract following an extensive tender process. The contract involves loading spodumene concentrate at Kathleen Valley, haulage of the concentrate to the Port of Geraldton, storage and stockpile management in a dedicated world-class facility at the port, and the outload to port infrastructure for shipment to Liontown customers.
Qube will utilise ultra-quad road-trains to truck all concentrate from Kathleen Valley to the dedicated storage facility at the Port of Geraldton for the duration of the contract. It will also use its 24/7 fleet monitoring centre in Perth to manage safety and environmental outcomes.
When will things kick-off?
Liontown advised that the contract is due to commence in mid-2024 in line with the process plant ramp-up.
Provision has been made for the services to be provided earlier for direct shipping ore (DSO) as Liontown nears completion of offtake and processing options.
As well as generating early revenue for Liontown, selling and shipping DSO will allow the company to trial the haulage logistics chain with lower grade material before first production is achieved from Kathleen Valley in mid-2024.
Liontown's managing director and CEO, Tony Ottaviano, said:
We look forward to working with Qube on the haulage and storage of our spodumene concentrate and DSO material from Kathleen Valley as well as benefiting from their expertise in the industry, especially with their extensive experience managing spodumene for others. This contract coupled with the Underground Mining Services (due this quarter) represents one of the last few outstanding contracts to be awarded as we progress Kathleen Valley towards first production mid-2024.
