Australia-listed Elevra Lithium Limited has identified a revised, staged development pathway for the expansion of its North American Lithium (NAL) operation that is expected to bring forward additional spodumene concentrate production by about two years, while reducing upfront capital requirements and lowering unit operating costs.

The company said on Monday that further refinement of the NAL expansion programme had highlighted a route to stage permitting, construction and capital investment, addressing permitting constraints that had previously been on the critical path for the project.

Elevra had earlier outlined a whole-of-project expansion to lift spodumene concentrate production to 315 000 t/y, with construction to be completed by the end of the 2029 calendar year. However, permitting timelines posed a key scheduling risk.

By leveraging additional permitting information received since the publication of the scoping study, together with permits already in place, the company has now identified a development sequence that allows production increases to be staged through a series of debottlenecking steps.

The proposed approach is expected to incrementally increase production above current levels, shorten the timeframe to reach the expanded life-of-mine (LoM) average production rate of 315 000 t/y, and enable capital expenditure to be spread over a longer period.

Under the revised plan, Elevra expects an initial 15% to 20% increase in yearly spodumene concentrate production above current levels from mid-2027, within the existing milling permit limit of 4 500 t/d. This phase is expected to deliver an incremental reduction in unit operating costs.

A second phase would expand downstream milling, flotation and filtration capacity to 6 500 t/d, supported by a temporary mobile crushing circuit operating alongside the existing crusher. This is expected to lift concentrate production to 315 000 t/y from early 2028, with further cost reductions.

The final phase would replace both the temporary and existing crushing circuits with a new crushing and ore sorting circuit capable of supporting the expanded LoM production profile. This step is targeted for completion in early 2029 and is expected to deliver additional crushing and ore sorting efficiencies.

“We have taken a disciplined and pragmatic approach to accelerating production growth at North American Lithium, and the result is a materially improved development pathway. By leveraging new permitting information received since the scoping study, together with permits already in place, we have identified a staged expansion sequence that removes permitting from the critical path and brings forward incremental production in a low-risk, brownfields setting, while maintaining a clear pathway to 315 000 tpa of spodumene concentrate," said Elevra CEO and MD Lucas Dow, commenting on the revised strategy.

He added that the tweaked strategy was expected to deliver production growth through targeted, capital-efficient debottlenecking steps, bringing forward increased output by about two years while spreading capital investment over time and capturing economies of scale. "Given the robust nature of the asset and the reduced execution risk, we will update the scoping study and move directly into detailed engineering, providing greater cost clarity and accelerating value creation at NAL.”

Elevra plans to release an updated scoping study in the first part of the second quarter of this calendar year, alongside the commencement of detailed engineering. The study will provide updated capital and operating cost estimates for each debottlenecking phase.

During its review, the company identified that previously reported C1 unit cash costs had not correctly allocated site SG&A costs. Following reallocation, forecast post-expansion C1 LoM unit cash costs are now estimated at $630/t, compared with the previously reported $562/t.

However, all-in sustaining costs remain unchanged at $680/t, and key project economics are intact, with a net present value of about $950-million and an internal rate of return of 26.4%. Elevra said the earlier delivery of additional production under the revised plan had the potential to further enhance these metrics when incorporated into the updated scoping study.