Pilbara eyes low-cost lithium with Latin Resources project in Brazil

By Marta Nogueira

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil, Sep 11 (Reuters) - Australian lithium miner Pilbara Minerals expects the planned Salinas Lithium Project in Brazil, which it is taking over through its acquisition of Latin Resources, to become a low cost operation able to withstand low price cycles, CEO Dale Henderson said on Wednesday.

Pilbara said last month it would acquire smaller peer Latin Resources in an all-share deal for an implied value of A$559.9 million ($373 million). The deal is expected to close around the end of the year.

Latin Resources had set out plans to start production at Salinas, in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, in 2026.

Henderson said for the moment, those plans were not being adjusted, with Pilbara still focused on finishing the acquisition.

"Could there be changes? It's possible, but right now that's not the focus," he told a press conference at a mining industry conference.

He added that the company took lower lithium prices into account, but saw other important factors in the Latin Resources acquisition.

"The quality of the Salinas project that Latin Resources has developed is very high quality and we think it will be a very low cost operation once fully developed," he said.

"Inevitable price cycles, it will be able to navigate those, we think with ease."

Henderson said he expects prices for spodumene concentrate, a type of lithium from hard rock, to more than double in the long-term to about $1,500 per metric ton from about $700 currently.

Asked if the company would consider more acquisitions in Brazil, Henderson said Pilbara is focused on the current deal, but did not rule out future transactions.

"We think in time there will be opportunity (for acquisitions)," he said.

Salinas has the potential to become one of the 10 largest hard rock lithium projects in the world in terms of production, according to Henderson.

"Part of the attraction to come to Brazil and the region is ... because we think it's the start of what could be a fantastic and potentially leading region in lithium," Henderson said.

($1 = 1.5011 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Marta Nogueira in Belo Horizonte; Writing by Andre Romani and Daina Beth Solomon Editing by Marguerita Choy)

((Marta.Nogueira@thomsonreuters.com;))