Mineral Resources (MinRes) will transition its Bald Hill lithium mine in Western Australia into care and maintenance amid cyclically low lithium prices.
The major miner acquired Bald Hill for $260 million in late 2023 to ensure the operation’s profits stay in Australia.
MinRes will now transition the operation into care and maintenance to preserve the mine’s cash and the spodumene orebody’s value for when the global lithium market conditions improve.
During care and maintenance, MinRes will continue to optimise mine plans, scale and operating structure ahead of any future restart.
The company will cease Bald Hill’s mining and mobile maintenance operations on November 13 and will temporarily cease operations at the spodumene concentrate plant and accommodation village by early December.
The final spodumene concentrate shipment from the mine is also expected to be sold in December.
Approximately 300 employees will be impacted by the transition, with all Bald Hill employees to be prioritised for redeployment across MinRes’ other WA operations. Where redeployment opportunities cannot be found, a redundancy process will be followed.
A team of about 10 MinRes employees will remain on site at Bald Hill to manage the scaling down of lithium production, as well as care and maintenance activities.
“Bald Hill is a significant value opportunity for MinRes once conditions in the lithium market improve,” MinRes managing director Chris Ellison said.
“Placing Bald Hill on care and maintenance is a prudent decision but one not made lightly. The decision aligns with the work we have done across the company in recent months to reduce costs.”
Despite the temporary shutdown, MinRes has increased Bald Hill’s mineral resource by 168 per cent. The mineral resource now stands at 58.1 million tonnes at 0.94 per cent lithium oxide.
“The significant upgrade to the mineral resources statement is evidence that Bald Hill is a high-quality asset with a long-term future,” Ellison said.
“We will continue to monitor lithium prices and site operating costs with a view to recommencing operations once conditions improve.”
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