Cost calculation method for lithium ore

1、 Production cost per ton of lithium ore

The complete production cost per ton of ore: the total amount of mining, beneficiation, and transportation costs, enterprise management, concentrate sales, mine maintenance, and mining rights usage expenses shared per ton of raw ore.

Mining cost: refers to the cost of mining.

Different mining methods (open pit and underground mining) generally cost 10-30 yuan for open pit mining. Underground mining costs are affected by different development methods (vertical shafts, inclined shafts, adits), drainage, mining methods, etc. At present, the general cost of pit mining is 20-70 yuan/ton.

Mineral processing cost: Due to the high water quality requirements and long mineral processing path required for spodumene beneficiation. The cost of mineral processing is higher than that of other ores. The cost of mineral processing is constrained by the selectivity of the ore, mainly including the consumption of mineral reagents (70-100 yuan) and steel balls in the ball mill, as well as the cost of tailings treatment and transportation (with a trend towards dry sand stacking and cemented filling). At present, the production cost of a general stone selection plant is 150-300 yuan/ton.

Raw ore transportation cost: The transportation cost of transporting raw ore from the pit to the beneficiation plant. Depending on the distance. The general cost is 10-50 yuan.

Enterprise management fee: The management level and personnel situation of the enterprise management fee are generally 10-20 yuan/ton.

Concentrate sales fee: All expenses incurred for transporting concentrate from the mining selection plant to the delivery location of the smelting plant. Due to the distance between the lithium mining area and the lithium salt plant. Most of our country relies on imports or transportation from production areas such as Xinjiang and Sichuan to lithium salt factories. Due to differences in sales locations, prices vary greatly, with foreign concentrates costing thousands of yuan. If selling low-grade ore, the sales radius should generally be considered.

Taxes and fees: Lithium mines are a strategic resource in China, and imported lithium mines are exempt from tariffs. Sales of lithium mines are subject to a 13% value-added tax.

Mine maintenance fee: According to the regulations of the Ministry of Finance in China, starting from 2004, a mining maintenance fee of 15-18 yuan per ton of raw ore will be extracted to support simple reproduction. Foreign countries consider the actual situation of mines and the laws and regulations of the country.

Mining rights usage fee: The resource compensation fee and resource usage fee required by national and local governments to be paid, equivalent to the cost per ton of ore. If the sky high price of lithium ore is generated through bidding and hanging, the cost may be very high.

2、 The concentrate produced

The amount of concentrate produced per ton of raw ore (equivalent to metallic tons) depends on the mining dilution rate and ore dressing recovery rate.

Mining impoverishment rate: Depending on the difference between open pit mining and pit mining. The dilution rate of open pit mining is generally not high, ranging from 5% to 15%. In underground mining, the dilution rate varies due to different ore occurrence conditions, mining methods, and management levels. At present, the impoverishment rate of pit mining in China is generally 10-25%.

Mineral processing recovery rate: Lithium ore is selected based on the selected grade, and the results of ore selectivity tests in specific mining areas, such as 60-90%.

Concentrate yield=(1- Mining dilution rate) × Mineral processing recovery rate

3、 Concentrate sales price: The spot sales price of qualified concentrate is generally the weekly average price of three-month metal futures, multiplied by a price coefficient (60-85%).

4、 Minimum extractable grade

For example, the cost of a certain spodumene ore is 50 yuan/ton, the beneficiation cost is 200 yuan/ton, the raw ore transportation cost is 30 yuan/ton, the enterprise management fee is 20 yuan/ton, the concentrate sales fee is 50 yuan/ton, the mine maintenance fee is 15 yuan/ton, and the mining right usage fee is 100 yuan/ton. The total production cost of a ton of ore is 465 yuan/ton.

If the mining dilution rate is 10% and the beneficiation recovery rate is 55%, the concentrate yield per ton of raw ore is 0.495%.

If 5% of spodumene concentrate is 10000 yuan per ton.

So: spodumene concentrate 5% × Raw ore grade × Concentrate yield 72%=465 yuan

Raw ore grade=0.5%, which means the mining grade (average grade of the mining area) is 0.5%

Of course, this is only an ideal calculation value. When the grade of spodumene ore reaches 5%, the recovery rate is calculated at 55%. (The grade of lithium ore directly affects the beneficiation cost and recovery rate)

5、 Other issues

1. The recoverable grade is actually the breakeven point of normal production after the mine is built and put into operation. If the construction funds of the mine (including the cost of purchasing mining rights, power supply lines and step-down stations, equipment investment, land and forest water costs, road and plant construction, mine infrastructure, office buildings, living facilities, safety facilities, etc.) are not recovered, in addition to principal repayment, interest must also be paid. This part of the interest is generally calculated at 10-20%, which accounts for a large proportion of the cost.

2. The methods to reduce production include (1) increasing production scale, and (2) improving the grade of raw ore. An increase in production scale will reduce the production cost of tons of ore. Mainly manifested in the reduction of enterprise management expenses and the reduction of procurement costs after large-scale production.

Improve the grade of the raw ore. It is to first mine high-grade ore during the production process and then mine it to increase profits. This plan should be proposed in the development and utilization plan and preliminary design based on the distribution pattern and occurrence conditions of the ore deposit grade. The advantage of this method is that it can quickly increase the cash flow of the enterprise, but the disadvantage is that it can easily lead to mining rich and abandoning poor, which is not conducive to the comprehensive development and utilization of resources, and cause difficulties in later mining (use with caution according to the mine situation).