PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The first stage of commissioning at the Altura lithium project, in Western Australia, has been completed with over 100 000 t of crushed ore now available to feed into the processing plant.
ASX-listed Altura Mining on Tuesday told shareholders that the entire commissioning phase is scheduled for completion by the end of June, at which time the Altura operation would be ramped up towards full throughput capacity.
First lithium concentrate production was scheduled for the second quarter of 2018, and the first shipment was due in July this year.
“The commissioning milestone marks a significant step for the Altura team. We have to remember this was a greenfields site that required the procurement and installation of all site infrastructure,” said Altura MD James Brown.
“I am very confident of our team’s ability to commission a processing plant with both dense media separation and flotation circuits and transform us into a producer.”
The Altura project, previously known as the Pilgangoora project, is expected to deliver some 219 000 t/y of spodumene concentrate. The company recently completed a definitive feasibility study to expand production to 440 000 t/y by early 2020, which found that a further investment of A$118-million would be required.