Piedmont Lithium shares up on continued record production at NAL
During Q3 2024, NAL produced approximately 52,100 dmt of spodumene concentrate.
Mineral Resources said on Wednesday it would put its Bald Hill mine in Western Australia under care and maintenance as part of a strategic review, making it the latest in a string of lithium miners announcing production cuts this week.
The move, which will impact 300 jobs from this week, comes as a response to a prolonged downturn in battery metal prices, as global lithium markets reel from rapid supply growth that outstripped demand due to a slowdown in electric vehicle sales.
The final shipment of spodumene concentrate from the mine is expected to be sold in December, with the shipped volumes forecast for fiscal 2025 revised down to 60,000 dry metric tonnes (dmt), from an earlier estimate of 120,000 dmt to 145,000 dmt.
“We will continue to monitor lithium prices and site operating costs with a view to recommencing operations once conditions improve,” the company said in a statement.
Also this week, US miner Piedmont Lithium nearly halved its total workforce after completing an additional 32% reduction in October as part of an ongoing cost-cutting plan.
Piedmont has now reduced its total workforce by 48% between February and October, the company said in a statement.
Australia’s Liontown Resources on Monday trimmed production plans for its flagship Kathleen Valley lithium project and flagged cost cuts to adapt to low metal prices, months after producing its first spodumene concentrate.
Liontown now plans a production rate of 2.8 million metric tons per annum from the end of fiscal year 2027, down from its earlier target of 3 million tons by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
The cuts by MinRes come after Australian superannuation fund HESTA last week put it on a watchlist, citing disappointment with the company’s inadequate response to governance issues involving its billionaire founder Chris Ellison.
Shares in MinRes fell 6.5% after the news and have nearly halved since the start of the year.
($1 = 1.5312 Australian dollars)
(By Melanie Burton and Archishma Iyer; Editing by Alan Barona and Jamie Freed)
Comments