The March quarter was a period of project work for Liontown, with the miner completing a good chunk of its Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia.
As of March 31, Liontown had completed 85 per cent of Kathleen Valley, and approximately 90 per cent of process plant.
The project remains on budget and schedule for first production in mid-2024.
“The March 1uarter saw tremendous progress across all major work fronts at Kathleen Valley, with construction of the process plant, the critical path to first production, being 90 percent complete on an earned value basis,” Liontown managing director Tony Ottaviano said.
“We are within touching distance of first production and in a very strong position financially with $358.1 million in the bank, together with the undrawn commercial debt facility, providing us sufficient funding through to first production and beyond.”
Other highlights from the quarter included Liontown’s site-based workforce exceeding 900 people, with approximately three million work hours recorded.
Open pit mining also progressed well with 1.1 million bulk cubic metres mined and ore being stockpiled ahead of plant startup.
Flotation piping and electrical was progressed and all critical path items are on track to enable first production in mid-2024.
“The execution of the A$550 million debt package was significant, providing access to capital to see Kathleen Valley into first production, ramp-up to three million tonnes per annum and positive cashflow,” Ottaviano said.
“Securing capital from a leading international and domestic syndicate, as well as government agencies, further reinforces the strength of the underlying technical and financial qualities of Kathleen Valley and provides a very strong endorsement of our project.”
Subscribe to Australian Mining and receive the latest news on product announcements, industry developments, commodities and more.
