Slow ramp up at Altura's Pilgangoora lithium

Processing plant problems at Altura Mining’s Pilgangoora lithium mine have slowed output ramp-up, with about 24,000 tonnes of lithium shipped so far from the 220,000 tonnes per annum facility, nearly six months after production began.

The company also said it would await a final investment decision on a Pilgangoora stage two expansion, which would double capacity, until stage one reached nameplate capacity and was reviewed.

In an ASX announcement today, Altura said it had shipped four cargoes so far, with the most recent leaving in December and bound for China.

Shipments will continue on a monthly basis as production steadily grows.

The biggest problems, Altura said, were associated with the running time of the processing plant, specifically the floatation plant component, while downtime was also required for modifications to the plant.

In November, the processing plant delivered output of around 70 per cent of nameplate over several continuous 24-hour periods, Altura said.

Contractor Primero Group was appointed to improve output and undertake maintenance.

Altura managing director James Brown said product quality had nonetheless been high.

“Four shipments were made in the December quarter, and we plan to maintain both the quality and occurrence of delivery of this high-grade concentrate,” he said.

“Plans are in place to move to two shipments per month once nameplate capacity has been achieved.

“From an operational and commissioning standpoint, we continue to optimise our processes which have culminated in improving performances across the board.

“Initially, there were some challenges with the performance of the processing plant, but it is not uncommon for a new plant to experience operational delays.

“We are confident that the majority of these issues have been rectified and we look forward to the continued ramp-up of stage one and further production of high-grade lithium concentrate.”

Altura secured $US15 million of additional debt funding in September to support commissioning and ramp-up to nameplate capacity.

Shares in Altura were unchanged at 16.5 cents each.