Tag: Talison Lithium

Image: Talison Lithium.   BY ELIZABETH FABRI   TALISON Lithium’s mammoth Greenbushes mine in south-west WA is entering its next phase of growth with a $320 million expansion to double production nearing completion, a $516 million second expansion greenlit to begin in 2019, and a further $1 billion commitment made towards downstream processing.   Talison Lithium’s owners Tianqi Lithium and US group Albemarle are pouring some serious capital into their long-running Greenbushes mine in WA’s south-west as the State begins its transition into a global hub for battery metals and value-added processing. In early 2018 the State Government established a Lithium and Energy Materials Taskforce aimed at understanding opportunities from the emerging industry and creating a strategy going forward. The Greenbushes...

Image: Tianqi Lithium Australia.   BY ELIZABETH FABRI   WA spodumene producers are moving downstream to cash-in on sky-high lithium hydroxide prices. But is the capital spend on processing infrastructure worth the risk?   2017 was a game-changer for the WA lithium industry. In 2016 there was just a few producing mines in the State; in 2018 this number looks set to explode as investors pour capital into the swarm of lithium mines now at various stages of development. The Neometals and Mineral Resources Mt Marion JV entered production in late 2016, followed shortly by Galaxy Resources’ Mt Cattlin project which exported its first shipment of lithium concentrate in January 2017. Next cabs off the rank are Pilbara Minerals’ and...

Tesla has 325,000 pre-orders for its new Model 3 electric car. Source: Tesla Motors. By Cameron Drummond THE use of lithium in industrial batteries has seen the popularity of the rock-bonded soft metal skyrocket. These batteries out-perform their predecessor, the traditional nickel-metal hydride unit, for use in clean energy technologies such as electric cars and home energy storage. Lithium as an industrial commodity has gone from strength to strength on the back of these exciting technological shifts, most notably through tech-entrepreneur Elon Musk’s Tesla electric-powered cars and home battery storage units. The Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) share price enjoyed a steep ascent from a February 2016 low of $185 to $326 on 11 April, when it announced it had received US$1000...