Tag: WA

BY JESSICA CUMMINS   PILBARA Minerals has approved a $231 million expansion of its Pilgangoora lithium-tantalum project in the WA Pilbara.   Subject to regulatory approval and financing, the expansion was set to grow production to more than 800,000 tonnes per annum, and increase processing capacity to 5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). Following the completion of its Definitive Feasibility Study in August, the company confirmed 100 per cent of the Stage 2 offtake would be sold to customers including POSCO, Ganfeng Lithium and Great Wall Motor Company. Stage 2 works have begun, and the company has already placed long lead orders for major equipment to allow it to meet its objective of commissioning from the December quarter 2019. The...

Curtin chancellor Colin Beckett and vice-chancellor Professor Deborah Terry, Deputy Premier Liza Harvey and Member for Kalgoorlie Wendy Duncan at Agricola’s relaunch . By Elizabeth Fabri CURTIN University WA School of Mines’ accommodation in Kalgoorlie has undergone a $32 million facelift to encourage more students into the region. A collaboration between Curtin University and the WA Government, the Agricola facility will provide accommodation for 228 students, with 180 new individual bedrooms and 48 refurbished rooms. Curtin Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said the rebuild and refurbishment was extremely important to Kalgoorlie as it would help attract high-calibre students to the region. “The existing accommodation – which had been in operation since the 1970s – needed to be significantly upgraded to meet...

Doray’s managing director Allan Kelly and WA Minister for Mines and Petroleum Sean L’Estrange.   By Elizabeth Fabri DORAY Minerals has officially opened Deflector, its second high-grade gold mine, which required just 14 months to bring into production. On 26 October WA Minister for Mines and Petroleum Sean L’Estrange and Doray managing director Allan Kelly attended a ceremony to officiate the opening, which marked the second project Doray had funded, developed and commissioned within a four year period. Mr Kelly said the opening of Deflector was ‘transformational’ for the company, after it culminated its first gold pour in May and first shipment of concentrate at the end of June. “We wouldn’t be celebrating this achievement, once again delivered on time...

The site of the new lithium processing facility in Kwinana, WA. Image: Tianqi Lithium. By Cameron Drummond CHINESE lithium major Tianqi Lithium has received approval for its $400 million lithium processing plant in the Perth city of Kwinana. Subsidiary Tianqi Lithium Australia announced it had received final approval from its parent company’s board of directors to build the plant. The company anticipated the creation of 500 jobs during construction and more than 115 full time production jobs upon its expected completion in late 2018. The Kwinana plant would process spodumene concentrate from the Greenbushes lithium mine in WA’s South West region, producing 24,000 tonnes per annum of lithium hydroxide for use in lithium batteries. The mine is operated by Talison...

By Rachel Dally-Watkins 19 May, 2015 GINDALBIE METALS has nominated part of a pastoral station east of Geraldton, WA, for a proposed national radioactive waste management facility. The iron ore company, which holds a suit of tenements in the state’s Mid West region, including the Karara joint venture, nominated part of the 113,600 hectare Badja Station as a candidate site to store “intermediate level waste” and “low level waste created largely as a result of medical and other scientific procedures”. Gindalbie stated that it undertook a program of consultation with local communities and stakeholders prior to making the submission; however representatives from the Morawa Shire, which is about 70km from the site, claimed the proposal came as a surprise. “I...