Australia's Pilbara Minerals quarterly output drops as labour crunch bites
Lithium miner Pilbara Minerals posted a sequential drop in March-quarter spodumene production and warned of further impact this quarter due to a severe labour shortage at its operations in Western Australia state.
Spodumene is primarily used in the production of high-purity lithium for use in lithium-ion batteries, which are a key component of electric vehicles.
Miners in Australia faced an acute shortage of essential mine workers last quarter as Western Australia kept tight border restrictions to contain the spread of Covid-19 infections.
The mineral-rich state relaxed curbs in March, but has seen a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases since then, further aggravating the labour issues.
Pilbara Minerals said it produced 81,431 dry metric tonnes (dmt) of spodumene concentrate in January-March, compared with 83 476 t in the December quarter.
Shipments of spodumene concentrate tumbled more than 25% from the December quarter to 58,383 dmt due to a delay in loading about 20 000 t of cargo at Port Hedland in late March.
"With Covid-19 expected to continue to impact the company's operations through the June quarter, there remains some uncertainty regarding production levels," Pilbara Minerals said.
The company, however, maintained its annual production forecast of 340 000 t to 380 000 t, but noted that continued Covid-19 impacts might see production coming in the lower half of the forecast range.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation