Joint venture partners Covalent Lithium, Wesfarmers and Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM) have opened of the Mt Holland lithium mine and concentrator project.
The Mt Holland lithium project consists of an open-cut mine and concentrator, located 110km southeast of Southern Cross in the Wheatbelt region, and a refinery currently being constructed in the Kwinana Industrial Area.
With an expected cost of $2.6 billion, the project is supporting 1,000 jobs during construction and 350 jobs during operations.
Mt Holland will produce 380,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate per year, which will be refined into 50,000 tonnes of battery-quality lithium hydroxide. This is enough to power around one million electric vehicles.
The Kwinana refinery is expected to deliver its first lithium hydroxide in early 2025.
Mt Holland mined its first ore in December 2022, and began crushing in May 2023. The concentrator was successfully commissioned in the second half of 2023 and is now in the ramp-up phase.
Treasurer Rita Saffioti said the state government’s $60 million commitment to support the Moorine Rock to Mt Holland road upgrades has been essential to getting the project off the ground.
“Last year when the Australian Government withdrew their funding, we stepped up to fill the gap they had left and make sure the project was delivered.
“WA has hit a number of milestones as we progress towards becoming a global battery materials manufacturing hub, and this investment in lithium hydroxide will further support these earlier successes.
“It’s great to see the refinery set up in the Kwinana Industrial Area, which has excellent road, rail, port and energy connections.”
Mines and Petroleum Minister David Michael said WA remains a globally significant battery and critical minerals processing hub.
“Lithium became WA’s second most valuable mineral in 2022–23, with sales of $20 billion and royalties of $930 million.
“This impressive increase in production has seen WA consolidate its position as the largest global producer of lithium, a rank we have held since passing Chile in 2012.”
