PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Production at the Greenbushes lithium mine, in Western Australia, is poised to more than double after project owners Albemarle and Tianqi Lithium Corporation agreed to the expansion.
Production at the Greenbushes mine, which is currently the world’s largest active lithium mine, is set to increase from 80 000 t/y to 160 000 t/y, with the commissioning of the expansion set to start in the second quarter of 2019.
"The expansion of the mine and ore upgrading facilities is a key deliverable in our supply strategy to grow total combined lithium carbonate equivalent production to about 165 000 t/y early in the next decade,” said Albemarle lithium and advanced materials global business unit president John Mitchell.
"This project is integral to our announced lithium expansion plans so that we can meet the growing needs of our customers.”
Lithium mining at Greenbushes started in 1983, and the first lithium processing plant was commissioned two years later. Since then, the project partners have expanded the processing plant several times, with the most recent expansion having occurred in 2012.
Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter
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