Talison Lithium has boosted the reserves at its Greenbushes operations in Australia by 157% to 31,4-million tons, nearly doubling the expected life of the mine to 22 years, the company said last week.

“The increased lithium mineral reserves significantly extend the Greenbushes mine life, thereby providing customers with security of supply to meet the expected future growth in demand for lithium-ion batteries,” CEO Peter Oliver commented in a statement.

The company completed its phase-one expansion at the operation in December, lifting its yearly production rate to around 315 000 t of lithium concentrate.

Earlier this year, Talison pushed the button on the second-phase expansion, which will more than double production to 740 000 t/y at a cost of around A$70-million. It expects to complete this project in the first half of 2012.

The company, which listed in Toronto in September, predicts that lithium demand will double by 2016 from 2010 levels, as consumers buy more electronic goods, such as cellphones and iPads, while demand for electric cars, bikes, buses and taxis starts to accelerate from 2015.

China is now the biggest lithium buyer, accounting for around one-third of global demand.

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