PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Lithium miner Pilbara Minerals has taken a final investment decision on the A$560-million P1000 project at its Pilgangoora operation, in Western Australia.

The P1000 project will increase the nameplate capacity at Pilgangoora by 47%, from around 680 000 t/y to 1-million tonnes a year of spodumene concentrate, and will include an expanded concentrator with increased throughput at the Pilgan plant, as well as a range of supporting site infrastructure.

Pilbara told shareholders on Tuesday that the P1000 project would initially be executed in parallel with the ongoing P680 project, which was adding an additional 100 000 t/y to the current production capacity of 580 000 t/y.

First ore from the P1000 project is targeted for the March quarter of 2025, and full production will follow at the end of the September quarter of 2025.

The Pilgangoora project is expected to have a mine life of 25 years, based on the expanded production rates.

“The P1000 project expansion is an important milestone for Pilbara Minerals. This expansion step facilitates a major lift in production capacity, capitalising on the substantial scale of this tier one hard rock asset which underpins a near-25-year mine life at this new expanded production level,” said Pilbara Minerals MD and CEO Dale Henderson.

“This reinforces the exceptional scale and quality of our Pilgangoora project, which is one of the few hard rock lithium production operations globally that has both the resource size and an existing operating platform to enable a rapid scale-up of production to capitalise on the growing demand for lithium products.

“From the outset, our long-term growth strategy has been to develop each stage with a focus on tailoring production to meet demand, while also planning for future expansion opportunities. The P1000 project increases our nameplate production capacity by approximately 47%, driven by continued strong demand for our product, and leverages the planning and ongoing work being undertaken as part of the current P680 Expansion Project.

“The P1000 investment case is compelling with a payback from this investment expected to be within a year. This further increase in production capacity will cement Pilbara Minerals’ position as a globally significant supplier of lithium materials products delivering into this rapidly growing market.

“The company has received significant inbound interest for further offtake and downstream partnerships, and we have begun exploring options to maximise the value of the additional product from P1000 including new offtakes and downstream partnerships to extract greater value along the battery minerals supply chain.”

Meanwhile, Pilbara on Wednesday also announced the appointment of Luke Bortoli as CFO.

Bortoli has more than 20 years’ experience in finance, having most recently served as CFO of Afterpay Limited. Prior to this, he held various roles at Aristocrat Leisure Limited including global head of investor relations, group treasurer, global head of strategy and CFO special projects from 2014 to 2018.