Galaxy Resources waves off first lithium shipment from Mt Cattlin mine
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ABC Rural
By Jarrod Lucas
Posted 3 January 2017 at 6:45 am
Updated 3 January 2017 at 6:45 am
Lithium concentrate being loaded into the hull of a cargo ship.
Lithium concentrate is loaded onto the NY Trader 1 at Esperance Port ahead of its journey to China. (Supplied: Galaxy Resources)
Western Australia continues to stake its claim as the world's lithium mining capital, with Galaxy Resources waving off the first shipment from its recommissioned Mt Cattlin mine near Ravensthorpe.

About 10,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate left Esperance Port on January 2 aboard NY Trader 1 bound for Lianyungang Port in China.

The first shipment was valued at $US6 million, with Galaxy planning production of 160,000 tonnes this year.

Mt Cattlin operated from 2009 to 2012 and the restart was the brainchild of Perth businessman Michael Fotios, whose company — ASX-listed General Mining Corporation — was acquired by Galaxy in a $217 million takeover last year.

The restart included refurbishing the Mt Cattlin processing plant and doubling throughput to about 1.6 million tonnes per annum, while the cost of the works blew out from an initial estimate of $15 million to $22.4 million.

Galaxy's managing director Anthony Tse said production at Mt Cattlin continued to ramp up with daily plant utilisation now averaging 72 per cent.

"This is an exciting day for Galaxy and for our customers," he said.

"It marks another major achievement and signals Galaxy's formal transition back to producer status, elevating it into the ranks of global lithium producing companies.

"There has been a tremendous amount of hard work with some very long hours put in, under tight and challenging deadlines, to get the operations to the stage where they are at and to allow us to make our first shipment."

Mt Cattlin one of three lithium mines in WA
Lithium is a soft, silvery white metal which is highly reactive and a key component in new-generation batteries.

The chemical does not occur in nature in its elemental form, but compounds within hard rock deposits and salt brines.

Australian hard rock miners argue they are strategically placed compared to Chinese and South American competitors who typically source supplies from "poorer quality brines".


http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/rur...ipment/8159118