Primero in $60m lithium mine win

Core Lithium has cut the ribbon on its new lithium mine in the Northern Territory, with NRW Holdings subsidiary Primero Group contracted to oversee operations and maintenance.

ASX-listed Core Lithium formally opened the Finniss lithium mine near Darwin today, which the company has deemed the first producing lithium mine in the NT and Australia’s only lithium mine outside of Western Australia.

A subsidiary of WA contractor NRW Holdings, Primero Group has been contracted for operations and maintenance at the mine, overseeing a processing plant and related infrastructure.

It follows on from the engineering, procurement and construction contract Primero was awarded for the project in September last year. 

The new $60 million contract is for an initial five-year term and comes with the opportunity to extend.

NRW chief executive Jules Pemberton said the contract showcased the depth and operational knowledge of Primero’s work in the battery minerals sector.

“The capability to develop and operate assets of this nature is well aligned with the group’s strategy over the coming years and will continue to evolve with build own operate and equity style investments in projects,” he said.

Primero has said it has most of its key staff ready to start work on the mine this month and is expecting to complete the remaining recruitment by December 2022, in time for Core Lithium’s first spodumene shipment.

It comes a week after Core Lithium raised $100 million to fund further resource definition and exploration drilling at the Finniss project area.

NRW shares were off 1.98 per cent to trade at $2.48.