Lithium mining in Australia

Australia has one of the biggest lithium reserves^[1] and is the biggest producer of lithium by weight,^[2] with most of its production coming from mines in Western Australia. Most Australian lithium is produced from hard-rock spodumene,^[3] in contrast to other major producers like Argentina, Chile and China, which produce it mainly from salt lakes.^[4]

The world's largest hard-rock lithium mine, the Greenbushes mine, is in Western Australia.^[5] It is co-operated by the Chinese company Tianqi Lithium and the Australian companies Talison Lithium and IGO Limited.^[6] In 2021, it contributed 40% of the lithium mined in Australia.^[7]

Australia is home to lithium miners Orocobre, Core Lithium, Pilbara Minerals, Mineral Resources and Altura Mining.^[8]

The Greenbushes mine in the southwest of Western Australia is Australia's oldest and biggest lithium mine.^[7] It was opened in 1984 by Greenbushes Tin, which had discovered major lithium deposits at the site four years previously while exploring for tantalum. The mine was purchased by Talison Minerals in 2007.^[9]

In the year to July 2022, Greenbushes produced 1.13 million tons of spodumene concentrate.^[10]

The Mount Marion mine is an open-pit mine in Western Australia near Kalgoorlie. It was originally developed by a joint venture between Mineral Resources and Neometals and became operational in 2017. Ganfeng Lithium purchased Neometals' stake in 2018. The mine is today co-owned equally by Mineral Resources and Ganfang.^[11]

Mount Marion contains the world's second-biggest high-grade lithium mineral resources, with an estimated 71 million tonnes of spodumene.^[11]

Pilbara Minerals produces out of its Pilgangoora lithium-tantalum project located in Western Australia's Pilbara region.^[12] The site is located 120 km from Port Hedland. By 2018, the company had "attracted a group of high quality, experience global offtake partners including Gangfeng Lithium, General Lithium, Great Wall Motor Company and POSCO" as potential customers of its Pilgangoora project^[12] and was exploring options to scale the project.^{[12][needs update]}

The Pilgangoora mine was owned by Altura Mining until 2021, when the company went bankrupt. Its assets were purchased by Pilbara Minerals for A$201 million (US$151 million).^[13]

Pilbara Minerals commenced construction of its Pilgangoora project in January 2017 which was completed in late July 2018, producing its first lithium concentrate one month later.^[14] Pilbara Minerals delivered 111,199 dry metric tonnes (dmt) to date^[when?] for 2019 financial year with forecasted production for its March quarter between 47,000 and 52,000 dmt.^[15] On 28 March 2019 Pilbara announced it will commence a partnering process to support its expansion of the Pilgangoora project.^[16]

The Mt Cattlin mine is an open-pit mine near Ravensthorpe, Western Australia. It was developed by Galaxy Resources (now Allkem) and opened in 2010. The site contains an estimated 8.2 million tonnes of lithium reserves with a lithium oxide equivalent content of 1.23%. In 2019, the mine produced 192,000 dry metric tonnes of spodumene.^[18] Mining was temporarily suspended there in 2013 due to a drop in lithium prices, but was restarted in 2016.^[19]

Processed ore is shipped out via the port of Esperance around 200 km east of the mine.^[18]

The Wodgina lithium mine in Western Australia is operated by a joint venture between Albemarle and Mineral Resources. It has a theoretical annual production capacity of 750,000 tonnes. The site was inactive from 2019–2021, as low lithium prices made its operation unprofitable.^[20]

Historically, Wodgina was primarily an iron mine. Iron extraction there ceased in 2017.^[21]

The Finniss Lithium Project in the Northern Territory is the only Australian lithium mine outside of Western Australia. It opened in 2022 and is operated by Core Lithium.^[22] The project will unfold in stages, initially with open-pit mining near Grants and Hang Gong, as well as underground mining at the Grants, BP33, and Carlton prospects.^[23] The mine is estimated to contain 31 million tonnes of lithium-containing minerals, with a lithium oxide-equivalent content of 1.3%.^[24] During construction, the project was given Major Project Status by the Australian government, which meant it was eligible for a streamlined federal approval process and help in dealing with local and state approval processes.^[25] Battery-grade lithium hydroxide was produced as part of the test works on spodumene mineral concentrate samples from the project in April 2021.^[23] Tesla, Inc. has contracted for 110,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate over four years from the Finniss lithium mine.^[26][22]

The Mount Holland mine is an open-pit mine situated 105 km southeast of Southern Cross. Developed by Covalent Lithium (a joint venture between the Chilean company Sociedad Química y Minera and the Australian company Wesfarmers), with operations commencing in late 2023.^[27] The project plans to produce 380,000 t of spodumene concentrate to a refinery in Kwinana. The refinery is planned to produce 50,000 t of lithium hydroxide a year with a sodium sulfate by-product.^[28]

Similar to Wodgina, the location was previously used for gold mining as the Bounty gold mine from 1989 to 2001, with much of the infrastructure removed prior to construction.

Many Australian lithium producers also operate outside of Australia. For instance, Allkem, in addition to operating the Mt Cattlin mine, sources much of its lithium from various Argentinian sites and James Bay, Canada.^[29]

In financial year 2021-22, Australia produced 330,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent.^[32] For comparison, Chile, the world's second biggest lithium producer, produced 45,000 tonnes in 2018. China, the third-biggest, produced 38,000 tonnes.^[33] As of 2023, 53% of the world's annual lithium supply is mined in Australia.^[34] 96% of it is exported to China for processing.^[35]

Worldwide production increased by 74 percent from 2016 to 2017, predominantly due to a "threefold increase in Australia's spodumene production".^[36] In 2017 Australia overtook Chile as the largest producer of lithium.^[37]

According to the United States Geological Survey, "five spodumene operations in Australia and two brine operations each in Argentina and Chile accounted for the majority of world lithium production". "The leading spodumene operation in Australia increased its spodumene concentrate production by about 40 percent in 2018 and remained the world's largest lithium producer".^[38]

Like all mines, lithium mines significantly impact their surrounding environments. Most lithium mines in Australia are surface mines.^[39] The most immediate impact of these mines is the removal of all plants, soil and wildlife on the site of the mine. The mining process generates inhalable and respirable dust particles.^[40]

Australian lithium extraction has a higher carbon footprint than lithium mining elsewhere. This is primarily because Australian lithium mines use extremely carbon-intensive power sources, especially diesel, for extraction and processing, and because most of it is subsequently shipped to China for further processing, which also uses highly carbon-intensive fuels.^[41]

Lithium may be extracted either by mining or from lithium brines.^[43] More capital outlay is needed for hard-rock spodumene mining than for lithium brines.^[43] This plays a role when identifying whether a project is worth an investment or conversely, if it should be abandoned.^[44][45]

Market demand is another major factor.^[46] The rapid growth and expansion of the electric vehicle sector has caused a surge in demand for lithium for lithium-ion batteries.^[47] This generates higher revenues^[48] for existing and new market entrants, as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald: "Pilbara Minerals managing director and chief executive Ken Brinsden said the demand for higher quality battery materials put WA in the drivers seat"^[49] The rising demand in the market for lithium "shows no signs of slowing"^[50] in Australia, which hosts the "highest economic concentrations of lithium via several hard rock deposits".^[51] However, as reported by the Australian Financial Review, as supply of lithium grows, the value of existing companies falls.^[52] Supply continues to grow as a royal settlement struck by Chilean producer SQM gives the company permission over the next 7 years to more than triple its production,^[52] also reported in the Sydney Morning Herald, "but federal forecasts in the resources and energy quarterly found while WA will be pulling out a record 419,000 tonnes of lithium ore spodumene from the ground, it won’t reap the same high prices the industry has experienced."^[49]

The Australian Government is encouraging investment in the lithium industry.^[54] As of 10 April 2019, The Federal Government and the State Government along with industry had agreed to fund a new modern national lithium research centre valued at $135 million which "will operate out of Curtin University in Perth", for $53 million. The facility aims to make Western Australia a hub for battery-making and research surrounding lithium battery manufacturing.^[54]