The Greenbushes lithium operation in Western Australia has maintained solid production during the June quarter, with its third chemical grade processing plant scheduled to produce first ore by the end of 2025.
IGO and Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia (TLEA) currently share a 49 per cent stake in Greenbushes, with Albemarle owning the balance. TLEA and Albemarle are the shareholders of Windfield Holdings, the holding company of Talison Lithium, which is the operator of Greenbushes.
Greenbushes produced 340,000 tonnes (t) of spodumene concentrate during the quarter, bringing its total production for the 2024–25 financial year (FY25) to approximately 1.4 million tonnes.
The operation also sold 412,000t for the three-month period ending June 30, representing a 12 per cent increase from the previous quarter.
“Greenbushes is a world-class ore body and generated a strong margin in FY25,” IGO managing director and chief executive officer Ivan Vella said.
“There are plenty of challenges and opportunities as we focus on full optimisation and achieving maximum value from the asset. The new management team are focused on a range of significant operational improvements both in the short term as well as the life of mine optimisation work.
“Management and the JV (joint venture) partners are strongly aligned and working closely to deliver the pathway forward.”
IGO’s Nova operation delivered a production surge, producing 5107t of nickel and 2318 of copper during the quarter. This represented a 22 and 21 per cent increase respectively.
Nova also generated $126.3 million in sales revenue, which IGO said “reflected the inclusion of an additional copper shipment delayed from the previous quarter, partially offset by lower nickel prices”.
“At Nova, production has trended up over recent quarters,” Vella said.
“There has been considerable work done to understand the extremities of the ore body and how to proactively manage the difficulties associated with operating the asset to end of mine life.
“This provides increased confidence that we have the plans and tactics in place to manage through this more difficult phase of operation as the mine comes to a close.”
IGO closed the June quarter with $280 million in cash and $62.3 million in underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation.
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