$300m Kwinana lithium plant proposed

A Chinese company with a majority stake in world’s largest hard rock lithium mine will seek development assessment panel approval on Wednesday for a $300 million processing facility in Kwinana.

The proponent of the processing facility project, Tianqi Lithium, owns 51 per cent of Talison Lithium, the company that operates the Greenbushes spodumene mine.

Tianqi Lithium’s parent company, Chengdu Tianqi Industry Group, acquired Talison in 2013, before selling 49 per cent to US-based Rockwood Holdings about a year later.

NYSE-listed Ablemarle, which bought out Rockwood, now controls that share.

Now it hopes to build a facility on Mason Road in Kwinana capable of producing nearly 24,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide per annum, according to development panel documents.

It will lease a 20-hectare site from LandCorp for the development.

About 161,000t of spodumene concentrate will be trucked by road from the Greenbushes mine annually, about 45 per cent of current production.

A series of by-products will additionally be sold, including 44,000t/year of sodium sulphate for use in detergent and 176,000y/year of aluminosilicate for local concrete and brick manufacturing.

The project has been recommended for a two-year planning approval.

An approval would come four years after Business News reported that Talison had planned a $200 million, 20,000t/year lithium carbonate facility in Kwinana.

Other movers

A number of Western Australian companies have made small moves towards the lithium processing space.

Pilbara Minerals has a partnership with Chinese producer General Lithium and local junior Lithium Australia to potentially move into downstream processing.

Lithium Australia is seeking commercial development of its sileach process, which recovers lithium from spodumene concentrates.

Neometals is continuing to pursue processing technology for lithium it will mine from the Mt Marion deposit, which is soon to enter production.