Greenbush Mine in Western Australia (Greenbushes) is the largest hard rock lithium mine in the world. As global demand for electric enterprises and lithium batteries continues to rise, Talison Lithium, the owner of the Greenbush mine's lithium mine, plans to expand its capacity to double the annual production of lithium concentrate to 1.34 million tons.
However, ownership of tantalum and other non-lithium mines in the Greenbush mine is owned by Global Advanced Metals (hereinafter referred to as: GAM).) Unable to agree on plans to expand their capacity, the two companies have been caught up in court, which could lead to Talison's plans to expand the capacity of the lithium mine stranded.
GAM said Talison's plan to expand lithium mining and processing at Greenbush could drain tantalum resources and be a waste of tantalum.
GAM Chief Executive Officer Andrew Omo39; Donovan said that while the expansion of lithium minerals could bring significant benefits to the Western Australian economy, Talison's plans to expand lithium capacity could not be at the expense of GAM's rights to tantalum and other non-lithium ore resources in Greenbush Mine.
"given the nature of the Greentbush mine, Talison's current plan to expand the mining and processing of the lithium mine will have an irreversible impact on the tantalum resources owned by GAM," he said. It can be said that Talison completely ignored the joint mining agreement between our two families. "
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Talison acquired the Sons of Gwalia Limited's mining operations in 2007 to gain access to the lithium assets and operations of the West Australia Green Bush mine. GAM has the asset and business of West Australia Green Bush. The two companies have signed the mining right retention agreement to coordinate their respective rights to the right to transfer the right to the ground.
At present, the West Australia Green Bush mine accounts for about 30% of the world's lithium production. However, with the surge in demand for lithium to be required for electric vehicles and energy storage, Mr. Talison would like to expand the current capacity to an annual output of 134 million tons.
To this end, Talison is in the process of building a new factory, Chemical Grade Plant 2 (CGP2). At the same time, it plans to build two new processing plants in Western Australia, a crushing plant, tailings dams and upgrading of power plants.
A spokesman for GAM said it expected the case to be resolved as soon as possible, as to whether the lawsuit would affect the company's plans. At the same time, the construction of the new plant CGP2 is still on schedule and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2019.
"We remain confident about the outcome of the proceedings," the spokesman said. At the same time, we are still methodically pushing ahead with the expansion of lithium production at Greenbush Mine, which could create hundreds of jobs in Western Australia and contribute to Western Australia's economic. "
It is reported that China Tianqi Lithium (51%), a major shareholder of Tianqi, is spending 700 million to build a lithium hydroxide plant in Kwinana, south of Perth, which is currently in progress. Another Tianqi owner, Albemarle of the United States, is also developing a similar plant in Kemerton, Western Australia. In order to achieve a capacity of 100000 tons by 2025.
By contrast, GAM, which has common mining rights, is also disgruntled. The latter set up large processing plants at Greenbush Mine to supply tantalum to downstream producers in Japan and the United States.
As the electronics, aerospace, automotive and chemical processing industries grow demand for tantalum capacitors and other products, the company is gradually increasing its tantalum production capacity, said Andrew Ox39, chief executive of GAM. At present, GAM Green Bush mine tantalum pentoxide production capacity of about 1 million pounds.
Ten years ago, Western Australia was the world's largest single source of tantalum. Today, GAM aims to expand the capacity of Greenbush mines and other mines to promote Western Australia once again as a global tantalum supply hub. "