The Ewoyaa Lithium Project, developed by Atlantic Lithium, is set to become Ghana’s first lithium-producing mine. Located in West Africa, the mine is currently 100% owned by Atlantic Lithium, an African-focused lithium exploration and development company formerly known as IronRidge Resources.
The Ewoyaa Mine consists of eight main deposits: Ewoyaa, Okwesi, Anokyi, Grasscutter, Abonko, Kaampakrom, Sill, and Bypass. Production of lithium concentrate from the mine is anticipated to commence in the second quarter of 2025.
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In August 2023, Atlantic Lithium signed an agreement with Piedmont Lithium, an American mining company, granting Piedmont a 22.5% stake in the project. As part of the deal, Piedmont committed $70m toward project development, allowing it to acquire an additional 27.5% stake, bringing its total investment to $128m.
Once operational, ownership of the mine will be shared among Atlantic Lithium (40.5%), Piedmont Lithium (40.5%), the Minerals Income Investment Fund (6%), and the Government of Ghana (13%).
Ewoyaa Lithium Project Location
The Ewoyaa Lithium Project is situated north of Saltpond, within the Mfantseman Municipality in Central Ghana.
The mine site lies approximately 100 km southwest of Accra, the capital city of Ghana, with project deposits spread across an area of about 8km² and located 4km apart.
The site is accessible via the sealed N1 Accra-Cape Coast-Takoradi highway, with several unsealed roads extending northward to connect the project area to the highway.
To improve accessibility, a new site access road will be constructed to link the highway and the existing roads.
Mine Background
Atlantic Lithium announced a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for the Ewoyaa Lithium Project in June 2023. The DFS detailed a total capital expenditure (CAPEX) of $185m and projected a production of 3.6 million tonnes (Mt) of spodumene concentrate over a 12-year mine life.
In September 2023, Ghana’s Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) signed a non-binding Head of Terms agreement with Atlantic Lithium, committing $32.9m to support the project.
The project achieved significant milestones in regulatory approvals. Atlantic received a mining lease from Ghana’s Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in October 2023.
In September 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Ghana granted the project its environmental permit (EPA Permit). This was followed by the issuance of a Mine Operating Permit from Ghana’s Minerals Commission in October 2024.
Geology and Mineralisation
The geology of western Ghana is characterised by Proterozoic-age metavolcanic rocks interbedded with steeply dipping metasediments. These formations belong to the Birimian Supergroup, comprising north-easterly trending volcano-sedimentary basins and volcano-plutonic belts.
The primary lithium-bearing mineral at the Ewoyaa Lithium Project is spodumene, which is found within pegmatites.
These pegmatites are predominantly composed of quartz, albite, muscovite, and occasionally microcline and spodumene. They also contain accessory minerals such as blue-green apatite, colourless to light blue beryl, barite, and iron-manganese-lithium phosphates.
The mine hosts two types of spodumene-bearing lithium mineralisation: P1 and P2.
P1 features coarse-grained spodumene crystals larger than 20mm, constituting 20-40% of the rock.
P2 contains medium- to fine-grained spodumene crystals smaller than 20mm, comprising approximately 50% of the rock.
Ewoyaa Lithium Project Mineral Resource Estimate
At 0.5% Li2O cut-off, the measured mineral resource estimate for the Ewoyaa Lithium Project is 3.7Mt, containing 51 kilo tonnes (kt) of Li2O at a grading of 1.37%.
The indicated mineral resource estimate for the mine is 26.1Mt, containing 324kt of Li2O at a grading of 1.24%.
The inferred mineral resources are 7Mt, containing 80kt of Li2O at a grading of 1.15%.
The total mineral resources for the mine are 36.8Mt, containing 455kt of Li2O at a grading of 1.24%.
Mineral Reserves
According to DFS, the project has 25.6Mt of mineral reserves at a grading of 1.22% Li2O.
Mining and Processing Methods
The Ewoyaa Lithium Project will utilise conventional open-pit mining methods, including drilling, blasting, loading, and hauling. Drilling and blasting will be conducted on benches ranging from 5 to 10m in height.
The mining fleet will consist of 100–200-tonne hydraulic excavators, 90–150-tonne off-highway dump trucks, and open-cut drilling and auxiliary equipment. Approximately 2.7 million tonnes per annum (tpa) of mined material, known as Run of Mine (ROM), will be loaded into the ROM feed bin using a front-end loader. The material will then pass through three stages of crushing in separate circuits.
The crushing process will produce material over 10 mm in size, which will be fed into a Dense Medium Separation (DMS) beneficiation circuit. Within the DMS circuit, the feed will be divided into three size fractions: coarse (-10 +5.6 mm), fines (-5.6 +2.8 mm), and ultrafines (-2.8 +0.85 mm). These fractions will undergo two-stage processing. The primary DMS sinks will be further refined in a secondary stage, with the upgraded secondary sinks combined to produce the final DMS concentrate.
To maximise recovery, the coarse DMS floats will be sent to a recrush circuit, reducing the material to -4 mm to recover spodumene. Material smaller than 0.85 mm will be pumped to a fines dewatering circuit, where the dewatered fines will be stockpiled as a secondary product for sale.
The slimes fraction, also referred to as the dewatered cyclone overflow, will be thickened using a thickener and then pumped to a tailings storage facility.
Infrastructure
The infrastructure of Ewoyaa Lithium Mine will consist of existing and new/modified facilities.
The existing facilities include the N1 highway, unsealed roads, high-voltage power lines, Ports of Takoradi located approximately 110km west of the project site and Tema located 140km east of the site, and Accra and Takoradi airports.
The new/modified facilities will include the water supply and a storage dam, the power supply, an Integrated Waste Landform Tailings Storage Facility (IWLTSF), a plant site access road, buildings, fuel supply and storage, and communications.
Power Supply
Ghana’s National Interconnected Transmission System, managed by the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), oversees the country’s electricity grid. The Volta River Authority (VRA) serves as Ghana’s primary energy provider, supported by other power generation companies.
The project site will receive power from the grid at an average operating cost of $0.14 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). The installed power capacity at the site is estimated at 8,500kW, with an average continuous load of 4,270kW.
To support the project, a new 34.5kV single-circuit transmission line, approximately 3km in length, will be constructed. This line will connect a 161/34.5kV substation in Saltpond to a new substation at the site.
The project area is currently intersected by two existing transmission lines, which will be rerouted to a combined length of approximately 15km. Additionally, 30km of new transmission line will be constructed to meet the project’s energy requirements.
Ewoyaa Lithium Project Contractors
Mincore, an Australian engineering consultancy, has been contracted to oversee the engineering procurement construction and management (EPCM) assessment for the development of a downstream lithium conversion plant in Ghana.
In December 2022, Primero, a vertically integrated engineering group, won a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract for the mine’s processing plant. Under the contract, Primero will provide services to optimise the flowsheet, enhance profitability, mitigate risks, identify long-lead items, and offer financial and operational support for project development.
The Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for the project was developed collaboratively by Atlantic Lithium, Primero, RFQ Submissions, MFC, Trinol, Nagrom, SRK Consulting, Geocrest & REC, NEMAS Consult, and Environmental and Social Sustainability (ESS), along with Mining Focus Consultants. Atlantic Lithium and DRA Global, an engineering services company jointly conducted a Flotation Scoping Study.
In August 2023, Atlantic signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa (UMaT), to study feldspar by-products from the project. Fleet Space Technologies, an Australian space-enabled technology firm, completed the seismic geological survey of the project area using Exosphere Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT).
An independent mineral resource estimate for the project was prepared in 2023 by Ashmore Advisory, a UK-based consultancy. The Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) for the mine, financed by Piedmont, was prepared by Atlantic in 2022.
In January 2021, Atlantic engaged GeoDrill, a West African-based drilling company, to support exploration activities.
