Pilbara Minerals and Altura report little impact from hurricane Veronica in March

Brisbane –
Australian lithium producers Pilbara Minerals and Altura Mining have reported that minor impacts of Tropical Cyclone Veronica, which hit the country's west coast during this period, announced separate quarterly reports on Monday.

"The mining activities of the Pilgangoora project continued to progress well (despite the minor impact of hurricane Veronica at the end of the quarter), as the increase in mining volumes compared to the previous quarter was in line with the previous year. overall plan to ramp up the project and to the needs for increased mineral supply, "Pilbara Minerals said in the report.

Total Pilbara Minerals extracted from Pilgangoora's flagship project amounted to 2.99 million wet tonnes in March, up 63% year-on-year and up 2% year-on-year. quarter.

The project, which was completed in July of last year and the first spodumene concentrate shipped on October 2, was sold at 38,562 dry tonnes in March, down 17% from the previous year. the period from October to December, he said.

Three shipments were completed and one was delayed due to the cyclone, he added.

"The product was a mixture of coarse and fine concentrates to meet the quality specifications specified in the contract and was shipped to sampling partners in North Asia," he said.

"One of these shipments allowed the blending of a non-compliant concentrate produced at the beginning of the commissioning cyclone, resulting in the sale of 9,090 dmt of product grading 5.81% lithia", did he declare.

Pilbara Minerals was awarded contract deliveries on a basis of 6.0 to $ 675 / dmt CIF China, he said.

Altura, with its nearby Altura Lithium mine in Pilgangoora, recorded a total extraction of 622,929 billion cubic meters of materials in the March quarter, stable compared to the previous two quarters.

"The mining objectives were met for the quarter, despite the time lost to the severe tropical cyclone Veronica, which caused disturbances at the end of March and a loss of about 2,750 tonnes of production," he said. declared the company.

He shipped two shipments during the period, totaling 14,770 wmt, down 40% from the period from October to December. As for Pilbara Minerals, Altura also had a delayed cargo due to the cyclone, which was then shipped during the first week of April.

"All shipments met or exceeded customer expectations, with a weighted average of 5.9% Li20, 1.5% Fe203, 1.1% mica and 5.8% mercury. The average price received for these shipments was $ 601 / dmt, "the statement said.

Altura declared commercial production at the mine in March. At full production, the mine is expected to produce approximately 220,000 tonnes of lithium spodumene concentrate / year.

– Paul Bartholomew, [email protected]

– Nathan Richardson, [email protected]

– Edited by Elizabeth Thang, [email protected]