Perth-based lithium developer Altura Mining will start to commission a processing plant at its Altura lithium project in Australia within the next few weeks.
The company is on track to deliver first concentrate sales in the second quarter, it said.
A definitive feasibility study to establish a second plant to double output to 440,000 t/yr is well advanced and will be completed by April.
The crushing circuit for the first stage plant will be commissioned in March, followed by commissioning of dense media separation and flotation circuits in April and May. A location for the plant is finalised.
A scoping study indicated that duplicating the stage one plant will be the best option for output expansion. A second plant could be commissioned 17 months after an investment decision and will not disrupt production from the first plant.
The Altura project is in the Pilgangoora region of the Pilbara which hosts several large lithium deposits, including Pilbara Minerals' Pilgangoora project which is expected to come on stream in mid-2018.
Altura's mineral resource is 44mn t, grading 1pc lithium oxide and the ore reserve is 34.2mn t, grading 1.04pc lithium oxide. These resources and reserves are expected to support a mine life of more than 10 years.
The first stage of the Altura project will produce 220,000 t/yr of concentrate at a grade of 6pc lithium oxide. Offtake agreements are in place for the first stage of the project.
The project is one of three West Australian hard rock lithium projects starting production this year, the others being Pilbara Minerals' Pilgangoora project and the Bald Hill project owned by Tawana Resources and Alliance Mineral Assets.
