Name of the Mine
Greenbushes mine.

Location 
About 250 km south of Perth, in Australia.

Mine Owner/s 
Talison Lithium, a joint venture between TLEA and Albermarle Corporation.

Brief Description 
Greenbushes is a large-scale, long-life, low-cost, hard rock lithium mine with spodumene concentrate plants. The mine features the highest ore reserve grade of any hard rock lithium mine globally.

Brief History  
Mining began at Greenbushes in 1888, with development of the lithium orebody starting in 1983.

Primary Metals/Minerals 
Lithium.

Secondary Metals/Minerals 
None stated.

Geology/Mineralisation 
The Greenbushes pegmatites are about 2.53-million years old and belong to the lithium/caesium/tantalum group. The pegmatite deposit intrudes along a major northwest regional fault zone.

The pegmatite comprises a large main zone more than 3 km long and up to 300 m wide with numerous smaller pegmatite dykes and pods flanking the main body.

The Greenbushes pegmatites are mineralogically zoned in a lenticular interfingering style along strike and down dip. The lithium zone is more than 2 km long and enriched with the lithium-bearing mineral spodumene, which often constitutes 50% of the rock.

Reserves 
Total proven and probable reserves as at December 31, 2022, were estimated at 171.3-million tonnes grading 1.9% lithium oxide.

Resources 
Total measured, indicated and inferred resources as at December 31, 2022, were estimated at 347.3-million tonnes grading 1.5%.

Type of Mine
Openpit.

Mining Method  
Traditional drill-and-blast methods are used with ore graded and stockpiled according to its mineralogical characteristics and grade. Waste material is trucked to designated areas within the site where it is contoured and replanted as part of an ongoing rehabilitation plan.

Major Infrastructure/Equipment  
The Greenbushes mine has four processing plants, one producing technical grade lithium concentrates and two producing chemical-grade lithium concentrates and one retreating historic tailings.

Ore containing lithium oxide is fed into the processing plants, which upgrade the lithium mineral, using gravity, heavy-media, flotation and magnetic processes, into a range of lithium concentrates for bulk and bagged shipments.

Construction of a third lithium processing plant started in 2023

A tailings retreatment facility is also in operation at the mine.

Prospects 
To maintain the life-of-mine, Talison Lithium has started an exploration programme to replace reserves as they are depleted by mining. The programme is focused on identifying and proving additional pegmatites within the mineral leases and exploring the Central Lode Orebody at depth to confirm future underground mining potential.

Contact Details
Talison Lithium
Tel +61 8 9263 5555
Email perth@talisonlithium.com or gbcontact@talisonlithium.com

Sources
IGO. Website: https://www.igo.com.au/IGO. FY23 Annual report of mineral resources and or reserves June 30, 2023.

Talison Lithium. Website: https://www.talisonlithium.com/

Tianqi Lithium. Website: https://www.tianqilithium.com.au/