The construction of the Whabouchi lithium mine and Shwinigan electrochemical plant remain on track to start producing concentrate in the second half of next year, followed by lithium salt production in the second half of 2020, Nemaska Lithium reported on Monday.

In a project update, the company said that the detailed engineering for the Whabouchi mine site, excluding the electrical engineering, was 84% complete with the electrical engineering estimated to be 55% complete.

Detailed engineering at the hydromet plant was 38% complete and the electrical engineering had just begun. Engineering at both sites was tracking to schedule, per the construction timeline targets.

The Whabouchi mine and concentrator is located in Eeyou Istchee James Bay territory and the hydromet plant is in Shawinigan, both in Quebec.

“As winter has arrived at both facilities, I am often asked about weather impacts on construction and operations. Accordingly, we fast-tracked the pouring as much as possible of the concrete at the mine site and were able to complete most of it prior to the freezing. Naturally, the execution calendar takes into consideration the winter conditions. In addition, construction is moving ahead inside the concentrator building and we will be able to start installing equipment as it arrives at site,” said president and CEO Guy Bourassa.

As of October 27, commitments totalled C$315.9-million, or 36% of the total project budget of C$874.7-million.

Over the life-of-mine production, the company is expected to produce seven-million tonnes of spodumene concentrate, which will be converted into about 770 000 t of battery-grade lithium hydroxide and about 361 000 t of battery-grade lithium carbonate, which equates to about 213 000 t/y of concentrate being converted to about 23 000 t/y battery-grade lithium hydroxide and 11 000 t/y of lithium carbonate.