Atlantic Lithium Limited has embarked on some significant employee headcount cuts, citing delays in the ratification of its Ewoyaa Mining Lease and declining lithium prices.
This move it noted was necessary as the company reallocates resources to critical activities to advance Ghana’s first lithium mine.
This was communicated at the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Atlantic Lithium Limited.
“The ratification of the Mining Lease now represents the final regulatory step in the permitting process to enable the Company to break ground at Ewoyaa. We had expected that the Mining Lease would have been ratified by now. With elections in Ghana fast approaching, however, political crosswinds have had repercussions on the completion of parliamentary business, which has held up our progress.
“The delay in ratification, accentuated by the subdued lithium pricing environment, has forced us to make significant cuts across the business, including to our employee headcount, to ensure cash is allocated to activities critical to the advancement of the Project” Chief Executive Officer Keith Muller stated.
Despite the challenges, the company has achieved notable milestones, including environmental permits and progress on feasibility studies.
However, political delays in Ghana’s parliamentary processes, linked to upcoming elections, have prevented the Mining Lease’s final ratification, stalling key project timelines.
The CEO stressed the company’s commitment to maintaining favorable terms in ongoing funding discussions, despite market headwinds, and praised partners such as the Minerals Income Investment Fund for their continued support.
Atlantic Lithium remains optimistic about the long-term demand for lithium and anticipates a clearer regulatory roadmap post-elections.
“Knock-on effects have also been felt across our funding activities. Despite reaching the final stages of our competitive offtake partnering process, we remain steadfast on the preferred terms that we had defined going into the process and, despite lower current prices, we refuse to settle on terms that we believe compromise the best interests of the Company’s shareholders.”
We continue to receive considerable demand for product from Ewoyaa from potential offtakers and, as such, remain confident in securing the funding that Atlantic Lithium requires to sufficiently cover its allocation of development expenditure for the Project,” Keith Muller added.
The company continues work on refining technical studies and securing contracts to move toward its Final Investment Decision (FID).