Tug boats at the Port of Geraldton
Australian lithium company Liontown Resources has put in place the final link in securing its supply chain for the export of lithium ore from its Kathleen Valley project, in Western Australia, with a port access and services agreement with Mid West Ports Authority (MWPA).
The agreement will facilitate the export of lithium spodumene concentrate from Kathleen Valley through Geraldton to global offtake partners, including LG Energy Solution, Tesla and Ford Motor Company.
The agreement is for an initial ten years, with extensions for a further ten years and three years, respectively, aligned with the mine life of the Kathleen Valley project.
“Approval by WA Ports Minister David Michael of the port agreement represents the final step in securing our supply chain to export lithium ore from Kathleen Valley. The Port of Geraldton is a world-class facility with future growth aspirations, and Liontown is pleased to support the diversification of critical minerals exports out of the port for at least the next 20 years,” said MD and CEO Tony Ottaviano.
Liontown is partnering with Qube Holdings Limited to provide road transportation and port-side storage management services to enable the controlled transfer of product directly onto MWPA’s automated ship loading infrastructure.
The 2.5-million-tonne-a-year Kathleen Valley operation will produce 500 000 t/y of spodumene concentrate, and in year six of operations, Liontown will look to increase the project capacity to 4-million tonnes a year, delivering 700 000 t/y of spodumene concentrate, within six years.
Based on this production scenario, the Kathleen Valley operation is expected to have a mine life of 23 years and will generate life-of-mine free cash flows of A$12.2-billion.