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Kathleen Valley produces first spodumene concentrate amid uncertain market conditions","liontowns-kathleen-valley-produces-first-spodumene-concentrate-amid-uncertain-market-conditions","article/liontowns-kathleen-valley-produces-first-spodumene-concentrate-amid-uncertain-market-conditions",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":572,"content":582,"excerpt":773,"featured":51,"reporter":774,"_editable":778,"component":779,"seo_title":553,"categories":780,"visibility":786,"author_company":49,"featured_image":787,"seo_description":773,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":793,"formattedArticleDate":794},"c49a0aaf-4fd1-4abd-9fac-4c119cd354c5","2024-08-06 00:00",[560,563,566,569],{"slug":561,"name":562},"australia","Australia",{"slug":564,"name":565},"liontown-resources","Liontown Resources",{"slug":567,"name":568},"lithium-prices","Lithium prices",{"slug":570,"name":571},"spodumene","Spodumene",[573],{"slug":574,"name":575,"content":576},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":577,"image":578,"bio":580,"linkedin":581},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":579},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":583,"content":584},"doc",[585,592,613,618,631,640,645,650,657,667,672,677,690,695,708,713,718,723,728,748,753,758,763,768],{"type":586,"attrs":587,"content":588},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[589],{"text":590,"type":591},"Last week, the first spodumene concentrate came out of Liontown’s Kathleen Valley project in Western Australia.","text",{"type":586,"attrs":593,"content":594},{"textAlign":49},[595,603,605,611],{"text":596,"type":591,"marks":597},"Spodumene prices",[598],{"type":599,"attrs":600},"link",{"href":601,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":602},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/miners-under-pressure-as-spodumene-price-falls-below-1000-a-tonne","url",{"text":604,"type":591},", however, are low, having dropped 73.29% year-on-year to $935 per tonne, according to ",{"text":606,"type":591,"marks":607},"Benchmark’s Lithium price Assessment",[608],{"type":599,"attrs":609},{"href":610,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":602},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/price-assessments/lithium",{"text":612,"type":591},".",{"type":586,"attrs":614,"content":615},{"textAlign":49},[616],{"text":617,"type":591},"Notably, the Kathleen Valley project is the first new mine in Australia since Core Lithium’s Finnis project was put under care and maintenance at the start of 2024 less than two years after it came online due to the low price environment.",{"type":586,"attrs":619,"content":620},{"textAlign":49},[621,623,629],{"text":622,"type":591},"“Kathleen Valley is a significant project both for Australia and globally,” ",{"text":624,"type":591,"marks":625},"Cameron Perks",[626],{"type":599,"attrs":627},{"href":628,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":602},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/video/watch/analyst-insights-lithium-automakers-unconventional-supply-and-esg",{"text":630,"type":591},", product director for lithium at Benchmark, said. “The project was notably on time and on budget and demonstrates the ability for spodumene projects of high quality to respond relatively quickly to demand.”",{"type":586,"attrs":632,"content":633},{"textAlign":49},[634],{"type":635,"attrs":636},"image",{"id":49,"alt":637,"src":638,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":639},"Spodumene prices have fallen 73% year-on-year","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/91237b6b68/bm-spodumene-prices-1.png",{},{"type":586,"attrs":641,"content":642},{"textAlign":49},[643],{"text":644,"type":591},"The project is currently ramping up to produce three million tonnes of 6% spodumene concentrate per year with plans to expand to four million tonnes per year later down the line.",{"type":586,"attrs":646,"content":647},{"textAlign":49},[648],{"text":649,"type":591},"Kathleen Valley represents the first globally significant lithium project to include both open pit and underground mining operations from the outset.",{"type":651,"attrs":652,"content":654},"heading",{"level":653,"textAlign":49},4,[655],{"text":656,"type":591},"Australian lithium in a low price world",{"type":586,"attrs":658,"content":659},{"textAlign":49},[660,665],{"text":562,"type":591,"marks":661},[662],{"type":599,"attrs":663},{"href":664,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":602},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/search/tag/australia?items_per_page=12&page_offset=0&tags[]=australia",{"text":666,"type":591}," is the largest miner of lithium, forecast to produce close to 400,000 tonnes LCE of spodumene concentrate this year.",{"type":586,"attrs":668,"content":669},{"textAlign":49},[670],{"text":671,"type":591},"The country is expected to increase its output 60% by the end of the decade holding on to its top spot, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Forecast. ",{"type":586,"attrs":673,"content":674},{"textAlign":49},[675],{"text":676,"type":591},"Part of the appeal of Australia is that its spodumene is relatively high grade and low cost. Despite the low price environment, most miners in the country are operating profitably.",{"type":586,"attrs":678,"content":679},{"textAlign":49},[680,682,688],{"text":681,"type":591},"“However, ",{"text":683,"type":591,"marks":684},"low prices are now squeezing margins",[685],{"type":599,"attrs":686},{"href":687,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":602},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/falling-lithium-prices-challenge-new-project-economics",{"text":689,"type":591}," and are not sufficient to incentivise development of the majority of new projects,” Adam Webb, head of battery raw materials at Benchmark, said. “This will likely result in a lack of investment in new capacity in Australia and elsewhere until prices recover.”",{"type":586,"attrs":691,"content":692},{"textAlign":49},[693],{"text":694,"type":591},"Wesfarmers’ Mt Holland project with SQM in Western Australia is expected to hit commercial production this year, though Perks expects this will be the last project to come online for some time.",{"type":586,"attrs":696,"content":697},{"textAlign":49},[698,700,706],{"text":699,"type":591},"“There is a long tail of lithium projects in Australia,” Perks said. “The M&A sector has cooled, partly due to depressed markets, ",{"text":701,"type":591,"marks":702},"uncertain demand outlook",[703],{"type":599,"attrs":704},{"href":705,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":602},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/how-bad-is-the-electric-vehicle-slowdown",{"text":707,"type":591}," (despite underlying fundamentals looking relatively strong), and a resultant need to conserve capital from majors.”",{"type":651,"attrs":709,"content":710},{"level":653,"textAlign":49},[711],{"text":712,"type":591},"Offtakes and processing",{"type":586,"attrs":714,"content":715},{"textAlign":49},[716],{"text":717,"type":591},"In early July 2024, Liontown announced it had secured $250 million in supply chain financing from LG Energy Solution. The South Korean cell major increased its existing offtake deal to 15 years.",{"type":586,"attrs":719,"content":720},{"textAlign":49},[721],{"text":722,"type":591},"Liontown plans to use the pre-payment to increase the output of Kathleen Valley to four million tonnes per year of 6% spodumene concentrate from 2027.",{"type":586,"attrs":724,"content":725},{"textAlign":49},[726],{"text":727,"type":591},"In 2022, Liontown also secured offtake agreements with US automakers Tesla and Ford.",{"type":586,"attrs":729,"content":730},{"textAlign":49},[731,733,739,741,747],{"text":732,"type":591},"However, although these offtakes are for Australian spodumene, the ",{"text":734,"type":591,"marks":735},"country currently lacks the commercial capacity to process",[736],{"type":599,"attrs":737},{"href":738,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":602},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/will-midstream-go-mainstream-in-australia",{"text":740,"type":591}," this into ",{"text":742,"type":591,"marks":743},"battery chemicals",[744],{"type":599,"attrs":745},{"href":746,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":602},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/australia-looks-to-boost-domestic-mineral-processing-industry-with-676-million-fund",{"text":612,"type":591},{"type":586,"attrs":749,"content":750},{"textAlign":49},[751],{"text":752,"type":591},"Albemarle recently halted the expansion of its Kemerton facility, one of just two operating lithium chemical production facilities in Australia. The other is Kwinana majority owned by China’s Tianqi.",{"type":586,"attrs":754,"content":755},{"textAlign":49},[756],{"text":757,"type":591},"“China is still the only place that companies with offtakes can currently get spodumene turned into a chemical,” Perks said.",{"type":586,"attrs":759,"content":760},{"textAlign":49},[761],{"text":762,"type":591},"In this vein, Liontown arranged a short-term offtake agreement with Chinese miner and refiner Sinomine. Liontown will supply 100,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate to Sinomine over a ten-month period starting late September 2024.",{"type":586,"attrs":764,"content":765},{"textAlign":49},[766],{"text":767,"type":591},"But although Australian miners depend on China to process their feedstock into battery chemicals, the government is increasingly weary of China’s involvement.",{"type":586,"attrs":769,"content":770},{"textAlign":49},[771],{"text":772,"type":591},"“In terms of investment, buying lithium and other critical mineral projects in Australia is only getting harder for China due to local foreign investment rules,” Perks said.","Last week, the first spodumene concentrate came out of Liontown’s Kathleen Valley project in Western Australia. Spodumene prices, however, are low, having dropped 73.29% year-on-year to $935 per tonne, according to Benchmark’s Lithium price Assessment. Notably, the Kathleen Valley project is the first new mine in Australia since Core Lithium’s Finnis project was put under […]",[775],{"slug":574,"name":575,"content":776},{"job_title":577,"image":777,"bio":580,"linkedin":581},{"filename":579},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"c49a0aaf-4fd1-4abd-9fac-4c119cd354c5\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[781,784],{"slug":782,"name":783},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":785,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":788,"name":789,"focus":789,"title":788,"source":789,"filename":790,"copyright":789,"fieldtype":791,"meta_data":792,"is_external_url":51},"Kathleen Valley spodumene first crush","","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/af2d006904/bm-first-crush-april-2024-1.jpg","asset",{"alt":788,"title":788,"source":789,"copyright":789},"Aug 06, 2024","6th August 2024",[],[],1792769818532]