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- Pilbara Minerals (PLS) has approved a $560 million investment to increase production at its Pilgangoora project in WA by 47 per cent
- The company says it has made a final investment decision to expand production to roughly one million tonnes per annum (tpa) of spodumene concentrate
- The investment, dubbed the P1000 project, will include an expanded concentrator with increased throughput at the Pilgan Plant and a range of supporting site infrastructure
- The P1000 project will be executed in parallel with the ongoing P680 project, which will add 100,000 tpa to the current production capacity of 580,000 tpa
- First ore production is slated for the March quarter of 2025 and full production, after commissioning and ramp-up, at the end of the September quarter of 2025
- PLS shares are up 2.86 per cent and trading at $3.96 at 2:13 pm AEDT
Pilbara Minerals (PLS) has approved a $560 million investment to increase production at its Pilgangoora project in WA by 47 per cent to roughly one million tonnes per annum (tpa) of spodumene concentrate.
The upgrade, dubbed the P1000 project, will include an expanded concentrator with increased throughput at the Pilgan Plant and a range of supporting site infrastructure.
The project will be executed in parallel with the ongoing P680 project, which will add an additional 100,000 tpa to the current production capacity of 580,000 tpa.
Pilbara Minerals is targeting first ore for the March Quarter of 2025 and full production after commissioning and ramp-up at the end of the September Quarter of 2025.
The company said this investment supported its long-term growth strategy to increase production capacity at the Pilgangoora Project in line with market demand.
The P1000 project leverages the company’s earlier investment in additional primary rejection and crushing/ore sorting capacity from the ongoing P680 project.
Pilbara Minerals’ Managing Director and CEO, Dale Henderson, said the P1000 project expansion was an important milestone for Pilbara Minerals.
“The P1000 investment case is compelling, with a payback from this investment expected to be within a year,” Mr Henderson said.
“This further increase in production capacity will cement Pilbara Minerals’ position as a globally significant supplier of lithium materials products delivering into this rapidly growing market.”
The company is also evaluating strategic options to maximize value from additional product from P1000, including long-term spodumene offtake with existing and new customers, together with joint venture (JV) partnering opportunities to further integrate the business downstream (in addition to the existing POSCO downstream hydroxide JV).
The capital investment for the P1000 project is expected to be funded from a combination of the company’s balance sheet and ongoing cashflow from existing operations.
Key long-lead procurement has already commenced as part of the $38 million in pre-FID expenditure announced in December 2022 and will continue to be undertaken prior to the award of key construction contracts.
In other company news, PLS has announced former Afterpay CFO Luke Bortoli will be stepping in as Pilbara Minerals’ new CFO.
Mr Bortoli has more than 20 years of experience working in finance and will step into the new role on April 11, 2023.
PLS shares are up 2.86 per cent and trading at $3.96 at 2:13 pm AEDT.
