Talison Lithium Australia’s proposal to expand its Greenbushes lithium mine has passed the first hurdle towards approval from the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
The finalised environmental scoping document was issued on September 1 and will begin a 15-month process to assess the potential impacts of the upgrade plan.
Talison has one month to submit the first draft of an environmental review document ahead of a public review period from February 2026. It will have a chance to respond to public submissions, with these documents incorporated into a finalised EPA assessment report in December 2026.
The proposal will also need to win approval from the Federal Government under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
The expansion project, which is designed to increase Greenbushes’ production of lithium mineral concentrate and spodumene ore, involves several different pieces of infrastructure and associated land clearing.
This includes construction of an S2 waste rock landform, expansion of existing agricultural dams to create a larger Salt Water Gully Dam located in the north-east of the development envelope, and development of new water management infrastructure to stop discharge of water-borne leachates from waste rock.
The project will also look to raise some dam embankments, realign Spring Gully Road, and extend the Maranup Ford Road infrastructure corridor.
Overall, the proposal would increase the development envelope by 28 per cent, to 2826 hectares.
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