As Liontown Resources prepares for a “transformation year’, its Kathleen Valley lithium operation in Western Australia has produced over 300,000 wet metric tonnes (wmt) of spodumene concentrate during its first 11 months of operations.
Kathleen Valley produced 85,892 dry metric tonnes (dmt) at an average grade of 5.2 per cent during the June quarter, a slight decrease from the previous quarter.
Liontown also sold 97,330dmt to customers, comprising six parcels that generated $96 million in revenue.
Liontown’s operations from the June quarter bring its total production for the 2024–25 financial year (FY25) to 294,521dmt, with 283,443dmt sold.
“We’ve delivered a strong finish to our first year of operations, with over (approximately) 300,000wmt of spodumene concentrate produced, $301 million in revenue secured and a breakeven net operating cash inflow from activities in a ramp up year,” Liontown managing director and chief executive officer Tony Ottaviano said.
“This quarter we delivered our third consecutive quarter of positive net operating cashflow of $23 million, which was a record and a standout result given the sustained pressure on lithium prices. This performance, along with sale proceeds received of $109 million for the quarter, underpins a strong cash balance of $156 million at June 30.”
In mid-July, Kathleen Valley officially opened its doors, with a formal ceremony marking the occasion.
Kathleen Valley is WA’s first underground lithium mine. Liontown kicked off underground production at Kathleen Valley in April, with full underground mining expected to take place with a 70 per cent recovery target in the third quarter of FY26.
“With underground production commencing during the quarter, we are ramping up to plan and producing excellent early results,” Ottaviano said.
“Fragmentation, dilution and recovery are all better than expected, and key enabling infrastructure such as our paste plant and the main ventilation shafts are now in place.”
As we head into the new financial year, Liontown is on track to complete open pit mining in December.
The ventilation infrastructure is on track for completion in the first quarter of FY26 and access to the final major ore zone is scheduled for the second quarter of FY26.
“FY26 will be a transition year,” Ottaviano said.
“Our focus is clear, we need to complete the underground transition, manage costs and cash tightly, and prepare the plant to fully leverage high-grade, low-contamination underground ore in the second half.
“We’re confident that by executing our plan in FY26, the company will emerge stronger from this low-price environment”.
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