PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Lithium miner Pilbara Minerals has reported increased production for the three months to September, with final shipments exceeding guidance.
The company on Wednesday reported that production for the September quarter reached 85 759 t of spodumene concentrate, up from the 77 162 t produced in the June quarter.
Spodumene concentrate shipments of 91 549 t were reported in the September quarter, compared with the 95 972 t shipped in the June quarter, exceeding prior guidance of between 77 000 t and 90 000 t.
The miner told shareholders that the strong performance from its Pilgangoora operations, in Western Austarlia, combined with improving product pricing, saw Pilbara’s cash balance grow to A$137.3-million at the end of the quarter.
Meanwhile, Pilbara Minerals and Korean major POSCO also continued to pursue the downstream joint venture (DSJV) opportunity and are now well advanced in the progress of detailed documents, the company said on Wednesday.
The formal documents are expected to be put to the Pilbara board for a final investment decision towards the end of October.
Should the DSJV be approved by the board, an incorporated JV will be established in South Korea between POSCO and Pilbara for the development of a jointly owned lithium hydroxide production plant in Gwangyang, South Korea.
It is anticipated that commissioning of the proposed DSJV facilities would occur from the June quarter, 2023.
The final terms of the JV remain subject to further discussions which are expected to be largely consistent with those announced in 2019, under which Pilbara would own a 30% interest in the DSJV, which would entail a 40 000 t/y lithium carbonate equivalent chemical conversion facility.