Australia's Mineral Resources to raise spodumene output as lithium demand soars
ca.finance.yahoo.com
Mon, April 4, 2022, 9:22 p.m.·1 min read
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April 5 (Reuters) - Australia's Mineral Resources Ltd on Tuesday agreed with its joint venture partners Albemarle Corp and Ganfeng Lithium to boost spodumene output from two mines, as it seeks to cash in on a surge in demand for lithium.
Companies and governments globally are pushing for greener fuel sources, causing a huge spike in prices and demand for lithium — a key raw material used in electric vehicle batteries. Spodumene is a mineral and lithium is extracted from it.
Mineral Resources and Ganfeng Lithium will upgrade production at Mt Marion, located in Western Australia, to 600,000 tonnes per annum from about 450,000 tonnes of mixed grade product by this month.
The company also said a planned second stage of expansion at Mt Marion would increase the installed capacity to a run-rate of 900,000 tonnes per annum of mixed grade by the end of 2022. The upgrades will cost less than A$120 million ($90.4 million).
The lithium and iron ore miner added that it agreed with Albemarle to a faster resumption of production from Train 2 at Wodgina mine, with the first spodumene concentrate expected in July.
Production from Train 1 at the mine is expected in May and the companies will review the state of the global lithium market towards the year-end to assess when to start-up Train 3 and possibly construct Train 4, Mineral Resources said.
The Australian firm also said a spodumene concentrate feed had been introduced into Train 1 of the Kemerton lithium hydroxide plant in Western Australia — which it operates with Albemarle — and the first production is expected next month. ($1 = 1.3268 Australian dollars) |
