Sir Sam Esson Jonah, a statesman and business entrepreneur, has praised the government for negotiating better fiscal conditions for Ghana’s first lithium mine than those on current mining contracts.

However, the previous President of AngloGold Ashanti emphasised that the government must now be strategic in order to assist realise the enormous benefits of the electricity boom that the burgeoning sector offered.

Sir Sam, whose expertise in designing and implementing better fiscal regimes for African countries is widely recognised, told Graphiconline that the terms of the lithium deal represented a credible step towards realising the increased Ghanaian ownership of the mining sector that he has long advocated.

“I have long said in my speeches that there is the need to encourage Ghanaian ownership in our mines.

This is the first credible move in that direction, and it should be celebrated rather than vilified,” he said in an interview in response to the pact announced two weeks ago.

Context

Ghana has signed a landmark agreement with Atlantic Lithium to mine lithium, a critical component of electric vehicles (EVs), in Ewoyaa in the Central Region.

The state will get a 10% royalty and a 13% free carried interest under the arrangement, as opposed to the current 5% and 10% for previous mining deals.

In the agreement struck earlier this month, the Australian miner is also obligated to contribute 1% of its earnings to a community development fund to assist in elevating the mining area.

The government has gained an additional 6% stake in the Ewoyaa Project through a proposed investment by the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) in Atlantic Lithium, increasing its total stake to 19%.

“The grant of the mining lease has, therefore, not only served as a gateway for Ghana to establish a long and successful lithium industry, but also for further foreign investment,” the former Senior Consultant to the United Nations Centre for Transformational Cooperation said.

Sir Sam worked with the UN Centre to help governments in Mali, Tanzania, and Burkina Faso, among others, establish and execute attractive fiscal terms for their mining industries.

Potential glut

The market for battery metals has become extremely competitive, with nations all over the world competing for investments to develop their resources.

Sir Sam indicated his conviction that the terms established for the Ewoyaa mining lease were considerably superior to those of many other nations but asked the government to tread cautiously in order to maintain the country’s attractiveness as an investment location.

While praising the government for being realistic and proactive in the Ewoyaa lithium agreement, the Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) stated that the university now needed to move forward strategically since time was not on its side.

“A number of states have similar or potentially even better lithium prospectives and more attractive fiscal regimes,” he said.

“Zimbabwe, for example, has a five per cent royalty rate for lithium production and no free carried state interest.

Namibia, too, has no mandatory government ownership and a royalty of no more than 10% on mining enterprises.

“At Ewoyaa, Ghana has opportunity to position itself at the forefront of African lithium production and that is why the government must support the project’s development as best as it can to capitalise upon favourable current lithium prices, while regularly revisiting its fiscal terms so not to deter potential foreign investment into Ghana,” Mr Jonah said.

Price drops

According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, the price of lithium spodumene, the metal’s high ore, would peak at $4,581 per tonne this year before falling steadily to $1,806 per tonne and $1,428 per tonne in 2025 and 2027, respectively.

Former AngloGold Ashanti President argued that Ghana should push itself to speed up the process of mining the mineral while encouraging more junior businesses to explore in Ghana to increase the probability of uncovering a pipeline of forthcoming large projects.

As fresh and larger possibilities, including those from Canada, the United States of America, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, prepare to come online, Sir Sam indicated that worries of a lithium glut were serious, with the potential to drive prices even lower.

He stated that the Manono Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, held by AVZ Minerals Limited, was the largest and one of the highest quality hard rock lithium properties in the world.

He stated that the project’s Roche Dure deposit, one of the greatest deposits among the six pegmatites – subterranean igneous rocks – alone had a reserve of 400 million tonnes.

He said, “in Mali, the combined current resources of Kodal Minerals’ Bougouni Project and Leo Lithium’s Goulamina Project equated to around 230 million tonnes”.

Sir Sam warned that if Ghana delays in putting its first mine online, which claimed a reserve of 35 million tonnes, the nation might become engulfed in a lithium oversupply, resulting in lower export prices and diminished economic prospects.

“The truth is lithium is abundant in the world and unless Ghana can convince investors to risk tens of millions in investments on exploration and hundreds of millions on development, the electrification boom will pass Ghana by,” he warned.

In a list of 14 lithium developers and producers that include Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zimbabwe, Ghana comes last in terms of lithium prospects and first in terms of fiscal terms for investors.

Mr Jonah, on the other hand, pointed out that the $1,410 per tonne long-term spodumene pricing used to evaluate the Ewoyaa project showed that it remained viable and profitable even at current lithium prices and if prices fell further.

Local processing

Because lithium is an essential element in powering batteries for EVs, mobile phones, cameras, computers, and medical equipment, it has become an important mineral for governments and industries as the globe shifts towards renewable energy.

Sir Sam stated that Ghana could optimise its profits by encouraging domestic processing of the mineral, but that the nation needed more lithium resources and considerable investment to improve its infrastructure for local processing.

“The country currently has just one project nearing production, with reserves of 25 million tonnes and a mine life of 12 years.

This, along with Ghana’s grid power restrictions, would not currently support the economics of a plant.

“But while not possible right now, I believe there is certainly the potential for a conversion plant to be built in the future, provided there is an investment to further exploration to develop more reserves,” Sir Sam told the Daily Graphic. 

Skilled workforce

Looking ahead, the leadership consultant stated that Ghana remained an appealing destination for lithium mining due to the abundance of highly skilled professionals and excellent geology and mine engineering universities that could benefit from the current 15 projects in operation firsthand.

“Ghana also benefits from its coastal location and its proximity to Europe, the East and to the Americas.

Not only can this drive down capital costs, but it also enables more favourable supply channels to customers,” Sir Sam added.