{"id":103686,"date":"2025-11-17T18:49:51","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T18:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=103686"},"modified":"2025-11-17T18:49:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T18:49:51","slug":"why-lithium-deal-may-not-be-viable-at-current-terms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=103686","title":{"rendered":"Why Lithium deal may not be viable at current terms"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 10 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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A former Chairman of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) and a prominent extractive governance advocate, Dr. Steve Manteaw, has called for a revision of the fiscal terms of the Atlantic Lithium mining lease.<\/p>\n

He believes a global collapse in lithium prices has rendered the crucial Ewoyaa Project financially unviable under its current structure.<\/p>\n

Speaking on JoyNews\u2019 The Pulse<\/strong><\/em> on Monday, November 17, Dr. Manteaw suggested revising the contract before parliamentary ratification.<\/p>\n

The Economic Threat: A Substantial Price Collapse<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Manteaw anchored his demand on the dramatic decline in the global price of lithium, the key component for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, since the agreement was initially negotiated with Barari DV Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of Australia\u2019s Atlantic Lithium.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut let me also explain that the global lithium prices at the time we negotiated for the lease, this Atlantic lithium lease, are not what they are today. There\u2019s been a substantial price collapse, throwing into question the viability of the project.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to industry data, lithium prices have plummeted by as much as 80% from their peak in late 2022. <\/p>\n

For instance, the price of Lithium Carbonate\u2014a key benchmark\u2014which was trading around US$70,000 to US$80,000 per metric tonne at the peak of the market, has collapsed to low levels, radically shrinking potential profit margins for the 36.8 million-tonne Ewoyaa resource.<\/p>\n

Dr. Manteaw cautioned that without immediate adjustment to Ghana\u2019s revenue expectations, the project would face severe operational risk.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSo if you don\u2019t actually revise the project downwards, that project will economically not be viable. So there is a case for the revision of the fiscal terms.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Political Posturing vs. National Interest<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

The advocate acknowledged that the necessary review is entangled in political rivalry, particularly following the contentious nature of the original negotiations in 2023.<\/p>\n

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\u201c\u2026at the end of the day we need to put Ghana first.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dr. Manteaw\u2019s comments come as the agreement, which proposes a 19% state equity stake (13% free carried interest and 6% through the Minerals Income Investment Fund \u2013 MIIF) and a 10% royalty rate, awaits final ratification by Parliament. The government has already invested considerable political capital, including a reported $70 million into the project.<\/p>\n

The former PIAC Chairman emphasized that a revised deal must focus on safeguarding Ghana\u2019s long-term economic returns and ensuring that the Ewoyaa project, located in the Central Region, ultimately delivers substantial benefits to the communities and the nation. <\/p>\n

Delaying the revision, he warned, only exacerbates the risk to Ghana\u2019s maiden venture into the critical minerals sector.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"WhyA former Chairman of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) and a prominent extractive governance advocate, Dr. Steve Manteaw, has called for a revision of the fiscal terms of the Atlantic Lithium mining lease.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1969,117,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hp-news-3","category-news","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=103686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103686\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=103686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=103686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=103686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}