Talison Lithium is planning a $600 million expansion to its Greenbushes mine in the South West region of Western Australia. Once the necessary approvals are in place, this expansion is forecast to create approximately 350 local jobs.
The planned expansion is in addition to the $320 million upgrade already underway at the mine, which is due for completion this year.
The two-stage Greenbushes mine expansion will involve developing two new processing plants as well as a new crusher, a larger tailings dam and expanded waste dumps. Once the expansion is completed, the Greenbushes mine is expected to double its production capacity to up to 2.3 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of lithium concentrate from 2021.
According to the environmental filings submitted by Talison, the increased production at the mine “is planned to meet the increasing global demand for lithium products”.
The filings submitted to the federal Department of the Environment and Energy for the doubling of production at the mine is currently up for approval.
Talison is expected to make a final investment decision regarding the project by July 2018, with works expected to commence by the end of the year and the first of the two new plants to be commissioned by 2020.
Earlier this year, Kerman Contracting was awarded a $20 million contract to deliver a number of services for the $320 million Greenbushes mine and processing plant upgrade.
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Source: The West Australian, Business News WA