MinRes adds to global lithium production cuts amid downturn
The company will put its Bald Hill lithium mine in Western Australia under care and maintenance starting this week.
Lithium miner Allkem Ltd on Tuesday cut its full-year guidance for spodumene concentrate production from the Mt Cattlin operations in Western Australia for a second time, after unfavourable ore characteristics impacted first-half output.
The Buenos Aires, Argentina-headquartered company said full-year production from Mt Cattlin would now peak at about 114,000 tonnes to 124,000 tonnes on account of fine-grained mineralization and lower-grade ore.
The revised forecast is below its prior estimate of 140,000 tonnes to 150,000 tonnes and fiscal 2022 production of 193,563 tonnes.
In August last year, Allkem had cited labour and equipment shortages to lower its Mt Cattlin production aspirations from an initial estimate of 160,000 tonnes to 170,000 tonnes.
Nevertheless, the miner said Mt Cattlin spodumene production would touch about 80,000 tonnes-90,000 tonnes in the second half of the year, compared with 34,000 tonnes in the first half.
“We are seeing Mt Cattlin returning to normal levels of production after the technical team effectively managed the unfavourable mineralogy and ore characteristics experienced throughout the December half,” said Chief Executive Martín Pérez de Solay.
Spodumene is the mineral from which lithium is extracted. Its popularity and price has soared as lithium is a key component of electric vehicle batteries.
(By Jaskiran Singh; Editing by Sandra Maler and Subhranshu Sahu)
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