In its quest to strengthen its in-country ties, Infinity Lithium has appointed Ramón Jiménez Serrano to the role of CEO of the company’s wholly owned Spanish subsidiary, Extremadura New Energies. Mr Serrano has spent 17 years in leadership roles with major Spanish companies that have an industrial focus and are aligned to sustainable energy transitions.
With international travel back on the cards after the Covid-induced hiatus, members of Infinity management recently travelled to the company’s San José lithium project on the European continent to engage with the community and local business organisations in Cáceres and meet with prospective contenders for the CEO role.
The ASX-listed company says increasing Spanish leadership in-country will help drive the project forward for the benefit of all stakeholders.
After delivering a standout scoping study that projected a pre-tax net present value of US$811 million for the proposed project, with net cash flows from production clocking in at US$190 million annually for the 26-year operation, Infinity now focussed on kickstarting its San José lithium project into production.
The study estimated a jaw-dropping US$7.9 billion in total revenues and only 3.2 years to pay back the US$532 million capital outlay required to bring San José to life.
Mr Serrano was previously CEO of Acciona Industrial, a global development and construction company based in Spain focussed on sustainable infrastructure solutions. According to Infinity, Serrano led the growth of the organisation into new business lines such as waste to energy, biomass, biofuels, photovoltaic and hydrogen.
Prior to this, he held Managing Director and CEO roles with Tedagua and Cobra where he oversaw the permitting and construction of numerous water and energy infrastructure projects, both in Extremadura, Spain and internationally.
Infinity says engagement of local stakeholders and community support in progressing large investment projects was critical for the success of these businesses.
Extremadura New Energies new CEO, Ramón Jiménez Serrano said: “This project will be a fundamental pillar of the future energy scenario allowing the creation of a model of sustainable development that cares for the environment. It will help create a better world for future generations while providing economic and social development of Cáceres and Extremadura, putting them at the forefront of this global transformation.”
Infinity’s planned San José lithium project is a fully integrated industrial venture centred on the manufacturing of battery-grade lithium compounds from a mica feedstock. It houses one of Europe's largest JORC compliant hard rock lithium deposits boasting a mammoth 111 million tonne resource going 0.61 per cent lithium oxide.
Interestingly Infinity is looking to build a lithium hydroxide plant alongside its lithium mine, giving it access to higher downstream processing margins.
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By Matt Birney
