The Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price is trading lower on Friday despite some good news out of the lithium miner.
In afternoon trade, the company's shares are down almost 1% to 39.2 cents.
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What did Core Lithium announce?
This afternoon, Core Lithium released an update on its 100%-owned Finniss Lithium Operation in the Northern Territory.
According to the release, the inaugural 10,000 tonnes spodumene concentrate delivery into Core's long-term offtake agreements has been loaded onto the Clearwater Bay for delivery to foundation customer Ganfeng Lithium. Pleasingly, the product presented well and is within contract specifications.
This shipment follows the two concentrate shipments made in April and July under separate agreements with Sichuan Yahua.
Core Lithium has also revealed that it has successfully negotiated the sale of an initial parcel of fines from the Finniss operations.
A 15,000 tonnes parcel of lithium fines, with a grade of 1.2% Li2O, was loaded at Darwin Port yesterday. It is expected to discharge the cargos at ports in China later this month.
'A significant milestone'
Core Lithium's CEO, Gareth Manderson, believes this is another significant milestone for the company. He said:
Delivering concentrate into long-term offtake agreements is a significant milestone for Core as we ramp up operations at the Finniss Lithium Operation. The product presents well and will be sold on a formula-based pricing mechanism linked to the lithium spot price.
Commenting on its decision to sell lithium fines, Manderson said:
The sale of the lithium fines has been established to deliver a revenue stream from a previously unsold by-product. Lithium fines sales provides an immediate commercial option while plant recovery improvement work is underway. I am impressed with how the operations, technical and sales and marketing teams, have moved quickly to realise this commercial option within a short timeframe.
Delivering first concentrate into long-term offtake agreements, and the sale of first fines are both significant milestones, and I commend the Core team for the work they have done to safely produce and deliver these products.
The Core Lithium share price is down 75% over the last 12 months.
