I think you are correct AXP. Much has changed since the PFS was published.

One of the biggest changes is that the "value" in the lithium-ion battery supply chain has shifted upstream to the raw material miners. This was not the case 2-3 years ago, when the value was with those that could produce "battery quality" chemicals. It would not surprise me if LAC increased the scale of the Stage 1 mine to 60ktpa (the limit of their current approvals), and initially focus on producing lithium sulphate (80% lithium), which only requires the Sulphuric Acid Plant to be built. They could sell that product to Redwood or Tesla (or the Chinese), both of whom are building large scale "battery quality" lithium refining plants in the US, and need feedstock, at scale, and who will be able to refine the product according to their own specifications. For LAC, that means less capex, less execution risk, faster to market, more Stage 1 profit, and turbo charged investment returns. Ofcourse the option to develop a carbonate processing plant down the track is preserved, if the market warrants it.

The focus should be getting as many lithium ions out of the ground and into the market as quickly as possible!

And another point, does it really make sense to develop a sophisticated "battery quality" lithium processing plant, which requires highly trained/skilled employees, in a remote location? Wouldn't it make more sense to locate such a facility in Reno (Redwood) or Austin (Tesla)?

Based on what I know and can see (which ofcourse is not everything), this is what I would do if I was LAC.

Anyway, enough of my ranting. Let's see what happens.