JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Developer Altura Mining expects to be granted approval for its Pilgangoora mining proposal by the end of the year, which will pave the way for construction to start at the lithium project.
The company has lodged a mining proposal for two leases – M45/1230 and M45/1231 – which the Western Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum recently granted.
The mining proposal covers the proposed mining operations, processing and power plants, mine site infrastructure, environmental assessments, hydrogeology studies and the mine rehabilitation plan.
The Pilgangoora project will be based on an ore feed of about 1.4-million tonnes a year to a process plant to deliver average output, at steady state, of 215 000 t/y of spodumene concentrate containing 6% lithium oxide.