[ferro-alloys.com]Tianqi Lithium’s landmark first-stage $400 million plant at Kwinana is all-but finished and into a long commissioning phase that should lead to Asian customers taking high-value lithium hydroxide from WA in the second half of the year.

The Chinese group’s local general manager, Phil Thick, said yesterday that construction was mostly complete, with the plant beginning a commissioning process just before Christmas that could take up to six months.

“It’s a long ramp-up because the technology is relatively new and there will be challenges for us, but that’s fine, we’ve planned for that all along,” he said.

Tianqi is spending more than $700 million at Kwinana, including $300 million on a second stage already under way and expected to be completed late this year.

At full production of 48,000 tonnes a year, the plant will be the world’s biggest producer of battery-grade lithium hydroxide.

The project is a major step for WA, which has struggled to attract and develop secondary processing opportunities for the billions of dollars of minerals mined across the State each year.

Kwinana will process spodumene concentrate from Tianqi’s half-owned Greenbushes mine, south-east of Perth, where the company is also funding its share of an $800 million-plus multi-stage expansion.

Mr Thick said Tianqi had hired 70 of the 170 staff who will operate the plant, many of them from the local area.

“We’re in a unique position here, where we are offering jobs in the city that are attractive and in an industry that’s green and clean and has a long future,” he said. “There’s no shortage of people wanting to working for us.”

Some were fly-in, fly-out workers wanting roles closer to home.

“The opportunity for people to be able to work at home and live at home in the Kwinana and Rockingham area is pretty attractive,” Mr Thick said.

Softer lithium prices had not dented Tianqi’s enthusiasm.

“We still expect significant growth in the market, driven by electric vehicles, over the next five to 10 years, and we’re well placed to take advantage,” Mr Thick said.

（The West Australian）

• [Editor:王可]