300 jobs impacted as Bald Hill mothballed

Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) will transition its Bald Hill lithium mine into care and maintenance this week with about 300 staff impacted.

The company says all Bald Hill employees will be redeployed, followed by a redundancy process if opportunities cannot be found.

Mining and mobile maintenance operations cease today, with the spodumene concentrate plant and accommodation village scheduled to temporarily cease operations by early December this year.

MinRes managing director Chris Ellison says Bald Hill is a significant value opportunity for the company once lithium prices improve.

“Placing Bald Hill on care and maintenance is a prudent decision but one not made lightly,” he said.

“The decision aligns with the work we have done across the company in recent months to reduce costs.

Mr Ellison says that Bald Hill is a high-quality asset with a long-term future.

“We will continue to monitor lithium prices and site operating costs with a view to recommencing operations once conditions improve.”

When the global lithium price improves to a level that incentivises a restart of Bald Hill, a ramp-up back to full operation is anticipated to take approximately four to six weeks.

A team of approximately 10 employees will remain on site to coordinate production ramp-down and care and maintenance activities.

The final shipment of Bald Hill spodumene concentrate is anticipated to be sold in December, with FY25 shipped SC6 volumes now expected to be approximately 60,000dmt versus prior volume guidance of 120,000-145,000dmt SC6 equivalent.