The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price has started the month positively.
In morning trade, the lithium miner's shares are up 4% to $5.08.
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Why is the Pilbara Minerals share price pushing higher?
Investors have been bidding the Pilbara Minerals share price higher today after the company released an update on the mid-stream demonstration plan it is developing with Calix Ltd (ASX: CXL).
According to the release, since entering into their joint venture in November 2022, the two parties have made significant progress in the detailed front-end engineering and design (FEED) of the proposed demonstration plant.
This means the plant is now nearing a point where a final investment decision (FID) will be put to the boards of both companies.
In addition, the company advises that as the date for FID was originally targeted for the end of the 2023 financial year, both parties have agreed to bring forward certain project expenditures in respect of detailed engineering, initially planned for post-FID. This is to ensure the delivery schedule and development of the project continues unimpeded.
Both parties remain committed to finalising the studies to support the FID, which are now at an advanced stage, with a decision expected to be made by the end of July.
The demonstration plant development is being supported by $20 million in Australian Government funding via the Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI). An initial payment of $8 million toward the project was received on 31 May 2023.
What's next?
Management advised that a successful demonstration of the mid-stream process could lead to a commercial-scale plant being built. This would be part of the company's future mid-stream strategy and future commercialisation of the calcination technology.
The joint venture will also then look at licensing the technology to the global spodumene processing industry.
