PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Bald Hill lithium and tantalum mine, in Western Australia, has produced its first lithium concentrate, following the commissioning of a new dense media separation (DMS) circuit.
ASX-listed Tawana Resources on Wednesday reported that the DMS would be ramped up to full production over the next several months.
“It is a great effort by everybody involved to take Bald Hill from maiden lithium resource to production in nine months including only seven months of construction from the ground up,” said MD Mark Calderwood.
“The focus now is to achieve steady state production from the Stage 1 DMS circuit and optimise lithium yields. Concurrently, the joint venture (JV) will work on completion of the Stage 2 lithium fines circuit design and re-commissioning of the tantalum circuits.”
Tawana and its JV partner Alliance Mineral Assets are developing the A$42.2-million Bald Hill project, which is expected to deliver 155 000 t/y of spodumene concentrate and 260 000 lb/y of tantalum pentoxide over a mine life of 3.6 years.