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Greenbushes lithium mine

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MiningCommentsPremium
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Fire rips through lithium mine’s new $880m plant

A fire at the newest Greenbushes lithium processing plant adds to a growing pile of issues plaguing Australia’s most profitable lithium mine.

Adrian Rauso

Develop Global managing director Bill Beament.

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Beament’s Develop Global pulls trigger on two WA projects

Bill Beament’s Develop Global has pulled the trigger on two new ‘transformational’ critical minerals projects in WA after securing a $570 million financing package through global commodities trader Trafigura.

Daniel Newell

Tianqi and IGO’s Kwinana lithium plant.

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
MiningCommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
WA lithium producer divulges potential tax dispute exposure

Tianqi and IGO are patiently waiting for the Australian Taxation Office to make its next move with an estimated $170 million, plus penalties, on the line. 

Adrian Rauso

Premier Roger Cook and PLS CEO Dale Henderson at the PLS mid stream processing plant opening in Pilgangoora Justin Benson-Cooper

LithiumPremiumPLS says rivals welcome to share new Pilbara lithium plant

The likes of Mineral Resources and Liontown could partner with their WA lithium rival on processing technology if all goes to plan.

Adrian Rauso

Incoming Covalent CEO Stuart Macnaughton.

MiningCommentsPremiumFormer Arafura Rare Earths executive tapped for Covalent CEO

Stuart Macnaughton will join the lithium joint venture next month and take its helm when Wesfarmers veteran Ross Martelli retires at the end of the year.

Sean Smith

PLS boss Dale Henderson.

MiningCommentsPremiumMining heavyweights pocket $17m from share sales

Greatland Resources chair Mark Barnaba and lithium kingpin Dale Henderson have joined this year’s mining cash rush, selling big licks of stocks into their companies’ galloping share prices.

Adrian Rauso and Sean Smith

The Mt Marion lithium mine south of Kalgoorlie.

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$490m spend to take MinRes underground at Mt Marion

Chris Ellison’s Mineral Resources is heading underground at the Mt Marion lithium mine in the Goldfields as part of a $490 million expansion it says will deliver customers a higher-grade product.

Daniel Newell

The Bald Hill lithium mine is located approximately 50km south east of Kambalda in the Goldfields region of Western Australia.

MiningPremiumMinRes to restart WA lithium mine, hire 370 more workers

Mineral Resources is looking to boost its headcount by about 370 after pressing the restart button for its Bald Hill lithium mine in the Goldfields.

Adrian Rauso

Mineral Resources boss Chris Ellison.

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Ellison cashes in $122m MinRes stake to launch family office

Chris Ellison has offloaded a massive slice of his stake in Mineral Resources to pocket more than $122 million and kick-start a family office.

Sean Smith

The EPA has identified feral cats as a major problem to native wildlife. (HANDOUT/THREATENED SPECIES RECOVERY HUB)

MiningPremiumCat and fox cull required to offset lithium mine growth

WA’s environmental watchdog has given its blessing for a lithium mine expansion to go ahead, provided feral cats and foxes are killed to offset vegetation clearing.

Adrian Rauso

Mineral Resources' stake in the Wodgina lithium mine would be reduced to 35 per cent under the POSCO deal.

MiningCommentsPremiumDelay in lithium stake sale a win for MinRes

Mineral Resources will ride the full upside of high lithium prices for longer after its finalisation of a sale deal with POSCO was pushed back.

Adrian Rauso

Liontown Resources managing director and chief executive Tony Ottaviano during the 2024 Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum.

MiningPremiumSpot sale buoys hope of further lithium gains

Liontown is eager to expand its Kathleen Valley mine amid a lithium price run that appears to still have legs following a rumoured spot cargo sale by one of its rivals.

Adrian Rauso

A MinRes truck on the upgraded Onslow Iron haul road.

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MinRes shares hit two-year high on guidance upgrade

Chris Ellison’s Mineral Resources whittled down a mountain of debt and boosted its production targets after successfully weathering Pilbara storms.

Adrian Rauso

IGO said its CFO Johan van Vuuren had resigned effective immediately

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‘Not right fit’: Mining CFO quits just weeks into the job

A WA lithium miner has sensationally parted ways with its chief financial officer after he was in the job for less than a month.

Adrian Rauso

Greenbushes’ owners are facing mounting pressure from locals in the nearby namesake town over the mine’s dust pollution, which has attracted the attention of WA’s regulator. 

MiningCommentsPremium‘Disappointing’: Problems piling up for IGO at Greenbushes

Greenbushes is at risk of losing its status as the world’s best hard rock lithium mine after IGO lifted the lid on ‘systemic’ operational issues.

Adrian Rauso

PLS' Pilgangoora operation.

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PLS builds huge cash pile but won’t lock in divvy return

Australia’s biggest lithium pure-play is back to printing money, boosting its bank balance by $501 million during the first three months of 2026.

Adrian Rauso

Wesfarmers and SQM's Covalent lithium hydroxide refinery in Kwinana.

MiningCommentsPremiumCook Government waives lithium fees for corporate giants

Australia’s largest conglomerate and a Chinese firm under tax scrutiny are the two major beneficiaries of a WA taxpayer-funded lithium support package.

Adrian Rauso

Rio Tinto boss Simon Trott.

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‘Resilient’ Rio on watch but yet to feel effects of war

Rio Tinto is yet to feel the effects of a global oil crisis fuelled by war in the Middle East but concedes it does not know how the ongoing conflict will hit supply chains in the second half of this year.

Daniel Newell

Vulcan Energy chairm Francis Wedin.

MiningCommentsPremiumGermany gifts Rinehart’s Vulcan a royalty holiday

The Gina Rinehart-backed company has been granted a five-year royalty holiday for future lithium production at its Lionheart project. 

Adrian Rauso

EV sales in Australia rose 42 per cent for the month, led by Chinese EV carmaker BYD.

MiningCommentsPremiumAussie EV boom won’t drive higher lithium prices

Electric vehicle sales in Australia are booming as the global oil supply crisis rages on, yet WA’s lithium producers should temper expectations of an imminent bonanza.

Adrian Rauso

An Albemarle employee walks out after they announced the closure of Kemerton Refinery Plant.

LithiumCommentsPremiumAlbemarle down to skeleton staff at idled lithium refinery

US chemicals giant Albemarle says it has “largely completed” sacking roughly 250 WA workers after making the call to idle the Kemerton lithium hydroxide refinery in February.

Simone Grogan

Core Lithium’s Finniss mine.

MiningCommentsPremiumNRW scoops up Finniss lithium mining contract

NRW Holdings is back on the tools at Core Lithium’s Finniss mine in the Northern Territory after securing a surface mining services contract worth about $50 million.

Adrian Rauso

The Greenbushes lithium mine

MiningPremiumATO probes Greenbushes profit offshoring

Revelations of an ongoing audit by the taxman overshadowed a net profit of more than $600 million from Australia’s most lucrative lithium mine.

Adrian Rauso

The Finniss lithium project.

LithiumPremiumShuttered lithium mine could be switched on in six months

One of the first lithium mines to call it quits during Australia’s battery minerals glut wants to restart operations as soon as September off the back of a price resurgence and backing from Glencore.

Simone Grogan