Mineral processing services giant GR Engineering Services (GRES) will deliver a paste plant facility at Liontown Resources’ Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia.
Liontown said paste fill is an integral part of Kathleen Valley’s underground mining cycle, helping to maximise recovery of the underground orebody and planned production rates, as well as reducing the size of the surface tailings dam that would otherwise be required.
The paste plant has also been designed to facilitate dry stacking and water recovery, further increasing the amount of recycled water the site uses.
The paste plant will include two trains capable of producing up to 160m3 of paste per hour and has been designed to accommodate future expansion of mining operations to four million tonnes per annum (Mtpa).
“We are pleased to award the contract for the design and construction of the paste plant which will support and further de-risk the planned underground production rates at Kathleen Valley,” Liontown managing director Tony Ottaviano said.
“GRES has designed and constructed multiple paste plant facilities throughout Western Australia and the GRES team has mobilised and commenced initial works at Kathleen Valley.”
Valued at approximately $71 million, the deal forms part of planned and budgeted next stage of growth for the project, with funding coming from the recently announced $550m financing facility.
The financing facility has been designed to ensure Kathleen Valley is funded through first production and ramp-up to the planned 3Mtpa base case.
Liontown said GRES has progressed the design, procurement and initial site works under an early works agreement to ensure timely delivery of the paste plant.
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