Pantera Minerals’ (ASX:PFE) investee company EnergyX has secured a binding 10-year lithium offtake agreement with global commodities trader Trafigura.
The take-or-pay deal covers 100,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium products from EnergyX’s Black Giant Project in Chile and Lonestar Project in Texas, US.
Trafigura reports the agreement accounts for 66% of phase one offtake from Black Giant and 30% from Lonestar, with commercial production targeted for 2028 and 2029, respectively.
EnergyX estimates the deal represents approximately US$2 billion ($2.86 billion) in revenue over its 10-year term based on a lithium price of US$20,000 per tonne.
The agreement supports project bankability alongside a previously announced non-binding US$60 billion letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the US (US EXIM).
Despite holding a strategic 2.34-million-share interest in EnergyX with a carrying value of approximately $42 million, Pantera notes that it is not a party to the agreement and receives no direct sales proceeds.
Executive Chairman and CEO Barnaby Egerton-Warburton says a binding, take-or-pay offtake “with a counterparty of Trafigura’s scale” is a significant milestone for EnergyX.
“It is the first commercial offtake EnergyX has announced, it covers both the Black Giant and Lonestar projects, and the parties have stated that it supports the bankability of those projects alongside the US EXIM letter of interest,” Egerton-Warburton says.
“It reinforces the rationale for the strategic position Pantera took in EnergyX.”
The agreement covers lithium carbonate from Black Giant and lithium hydroxide from Lonestar. Commercial production and deliveries remain subject to project development, financing, approvals, and commissioning.
Pantera Minerals is a critical minerals explorer and developer focused on advancing projects across the US, with a focus on Arkansas.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Main image: EnergyX
