Overview
Stage | Production |
Mine Type | Open Pit |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
|
Processing |
- Spiral concentrator / separator
- Crush & Screen plant
- Dewatering
- Filter press plant
- Gravity separation
- Flotation
- Dense media separation
- Magnetic separation
|
Mine Life | 26 years (as of Jan 1, 2021) |
The Pilgangoora Project hosts one of the world’s largest hard rock lithium tantalum deposits and is recognised as being within the most important source of lithium raw materials globally.
Following the acquisition and integration of the neighbouring operation (now the Ngungaju Plant) during FY2021, the Pilgangoora Project now comprises 34 granted tenements (excluding miscellaneous licences) covering an area of 1086.42km2. |
Latest News | Pilbara Minerals locks in Pilgangoora solar power October 20, 2021 |
Source:
p. 7,84
Company | Interest | Ownership |
Pilbara Minerals Ltd.
|
100 %
|
Indirect
|
Pilgangoora Operations Pty Ltd
(operator)
|
100 %
|
Direct
|
Pilbara Minerals’ 100%-owned Pilgangoora Project and Operation.
Summary:
The Pilgangoora pegmatite deposit is one of the largest hard rock lithium deposits in the world. The prospective Pilgangoora pegmatites are located within the East Strelley greenstone belt, approximately 30km east of Wodgina.
The pegmatites strike sub-parallel to the dominant north-northwest trending fabric of the greenstone belt. Three principal pegmatite groups or domains are identified in the centre of the project area: Eastern, Central and South. Two outlying pegmatite groups, Monster and Southern, are also identified, which have strike lengths of up to 350m and 500m respectively. Pegmatites of the principal domains have a strike length of up to 1.4km, and mostly range in thickness from 1-30m, although pegmatites in the Central domain may be up to 70m thick. The pegmatite domains have variable dips ranging from shallow to sub-vertical to the east.
The pegmatite domains at Pilgangoora are composites of several intrusive phases emplaced sequentially over the duration of the late-stage Turner River orogeny. Lithium grade in the pegmatite domains is subject to two main influences, one primary and the other secondary. The primary ore types comprise mainly coarse spodumene, K-feldspar and quartz, and the abundance of spodumene relative to the other two gangue phases is likely the main control on grade variations in zones grading better than 2% Li2O.
The main modelled mineralized domains have a total dimension of 5,800m (north-south), ranging between 50-1,500m (east-west) in multiple veins and ranging between -370m and 220m RL (AMSL). The Monster and Southern areas each have a modelled strike of approximately 700m and Lynas Find 500m.
The mineralisation dips between 20 and 60 degrees at a dip direction between 050 and 115 degrees for the majority of the domains. The Monster zone strikes 040 to 045 degrees and dips moderately to the south east. In the Lynas area the pegmatite varies between horizontal and 50- degree dip towards the south and south-east.
Summary:
The mining method used on site and proposed for future operations at 6.3 Mtpa is selective open pit excavation using drill and blast on 5.0 m high benches and load and haul on 2.5 m lifts. Hydraulic excavators (150-t) loading into 90-t rear dump haul trucks are used to separate waste rock (basalt and ultramafic) from mineralized pegmatite to minimize mining dilution. Ore contaminated with basalt is stockpiled for later processing through the ore sorting facility. Drilling uses track-mounted rigs, with sufficient mobility to access the pit from surface contour to pit bottom. The mining method is considered appropriate for the deposit geometry and production rates and has been in use since 2018. Access is easily available to all designed pits, waste dumps and stockpiles. A minimum mining width for pushbacks of 40m has been considered.
For the Central / Eastern deposit using 55°batters in the weathered domain and 75°batters in the transitional and fresh rock domains. Benches will be established every 20 m maximum with a minimum berm width of 10 m.
For the Monster deposit the weathered rock batter is 55° and the fresh rock better angle is 70°. Benches will be established every 20 m maximum with a minimum berm width of 10 m.
For the Lynas Find deposit, the weathered rock batter is 45° and the fresh rock better angle is 65°. Benches will be established every 20 m maximum with a minimum berm width of 15 m.
For South deposit, the weathered rock batter is 55° and 75°batters in the transitional and fresh rock domains. Benches will be established every 20 m maximum with a minimum berm width of 7.2 m. The South pit has geotechnical berms of 15m every 100 m vertical height.
Infrastructure to support a combined 3.6 Mtpa operations is in place, including haul routes, crushing and processing, maintenance, explosive storage, fuel storage, wash-down facilities, water, power, accommodation, offices and port storage facilities. There are ongoing requirements for construction of diversion channels and haulage roads.
Processing
- Spiral concentrator / separator
- Crush & Screen plant
- Dewatering
- Filter press plant
- Gravity separation
- Flotation
- Dense media separation
- Magnetic separation
Flow Sheet:
Summary:
The Pilgan 2 Mtpa Stage 1 processing plant has been commercially operational since April 2019. The existing Pilgan plant will be expanded during Stage 2 development to a production capacity of 5 Mtpa as offtake demand requires. The Pilgan plant currently processes uncontaminated pegmatite ore only, with any ore diluted with basalt (up to 22% basalt) currently stockpiled for later processing. An ore sorting facility is to be added to the front end of both the 2 Mtpa and expanded 5 Mtpa Pilgan plant to enable processing of this contaminated ore, and a contract ore sorting proposal is currently being evaluated. The Ngungaju plant capacity is 1.3 Mtpa and currently processes uncontaminated pegmatite ore only. There are no current plans for further expansion of the Ngungaju plant.
The current 2 Mtpa and the proposed 5 Mtpa Pilgan processing plant contains three-stage crushing, ball mills, hydrocyclone classifiers, heavy media separation, flotation, magnetic separation, spirals, a ........

Recoveries & Grades:
Commodity | Parameter | 2022 | 2021 |
Spodumene
|
Concentrate Grade, %
| ......  | ......  |
Tantalite
|
Concentrate Grade, %
| ......  | ......  |
Production:
The DSO program was suspended in Q2 FY2019 and subsequently terminated.
Commodity | Units | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
Spodumene
|
kt
| ...... ^ | ......  | ......  | ......  |
Tantalite
|
t
| | ......  | ......  | ......  |
All production numbers are expressed as concentrate.
^ Guidance / Forecast.
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Operational Metrics:
Metrics | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Total tonnes mined
| ......  | ......  | 10,853,657 wmt | 5,179,727 wmt |
Ore tonnes mined
| ......  | ......  | 2,431,117 wmt | 344,549 wmt |
Waste
| ......  | ......  | 8,422,540 wmt | 4,835,178 wmt |
Annual production capacity
| ......  | ......  | | |
Tonnes processed
| ......  | ......  | 1,464,652 wmt | |
Annual processing capacity
| ......  | ......  | 2 Mt | 2 Mt |
Stripping / waste ratio
| ......  | ......  | | 3.8 |
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Reserves at June 30, 2021:
Mineral Resource reported above 0.2 Li2O% cut-off.
Ore Reserves: the cut-off to define ore is variable by metal grades, but equates to an average cut-off grade of approximately 0.30 % Li2O equivalent taking the contributing Ta2O5 grades into account for the Pilgan plant and up to 0.38 % Li2O for the Ngungaju plant.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Commodity |
Proven
|
20.3 Mt
|
Li2O
|
1.29 %
|
0.3 Mt
|
Proven
|
20.3 Mt
|
Ta2O5
|
120 ppm
|
5.5 M lbs
|
Proven
|
20.3 Mt
|
Fe2O3
|
1.11 %
|
|
Probable
|
141.6 Mt
|
Li2O
|
1.17 %
|
1.7 Mt
|
Probable
|
141.6 Mt
|
Ta2O5
|
97 ppm
|
30.2 M lbs
|
Probable
|
141.6 Mt
|
Fe2O3
|
1.02 %
|
|
Proven & Probable
|
161.9 Mt
|
Li2O
|
1.18 %
|
1.9 Mt
|
Proven & Probable
|
161.9 Mt
|
Ta2O5
|
100 ppm
|
35.7 M lbs
|
Proven & Probable
|
161.9 Mt
|
Fe2O3
|
1.03 %
|
|
Measured
|
21.5 Mt
|
Li2O
|
1.35 %
|
291,000 t
|
Measured
|
21.5 Mt
|
Ta2O5
|
133 ppm
|
6.3 M lbs
|
Measured
|
21.5 Mt
|
Fe2O3
|
0.5 %
|
|
Indicated
|
188.7 Mt
|
Li2O
|
1.15 %
|
2,172,000 t
|
Indicated
|
188.7 Mt
|
Ta2O5
|
100 ppm
|
41.4 M lbs
|
Indicated
|
188.7 Mt
|
Fe2O3
|
0.56 %
|
|
Inferred
|
98.8 Mt
|
Li2O
|
1.06 %
|
1,046,000 t
|
Inferred
|
98.8 Mt
|
Ta2O5
|
110 ppm
|
24 M lbs
|
Inferred
|
98.8 Mt
|
Fe2O3
|
0.67 %
|
|
Total Resource
|
308.9 Mt
|
Li2O
|
1.14 %
|
3,509,000 t
|
Total Resource
|
308.9 Mt
|
Ta2O5
|
105 ppm
|
71.7 M lbs
|
Total Resource
|
308.9 Mt
|
Fe2O3
|
0.59 %
|
|
Corporate Filings & Presentations:
Document | Year |
...................................
|
2021
|
...................................
|
2021
|
...................................
|
2021
|
...................................
|
2021
|
...................................
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2020
|
...................................
|
2020
|
...................................
|
2020
|
...................................
|
2019
|
Annual Report
|
2018
|
Corporate Presentation
|
2018
|
Feasibility Study Report
|
2016
|
- Subscription is required.
News:
News | Date |
Pilbara Minerals locks in Pilgangoora solar power
|
October 20, 2021
|
Pilbara Minerals keeps Ngungaju production ramp-up on track
|
October 13, 2021
|
Pilbara Minerals feeds first ore to hungry lithium plant
|
October 7, 2021
|
MACA wins $70m Pilbara Minerals contract extension
|
September 16, 2021
|
Pilbara Minerals Ltd.: Substantial increase in Pilgangoora Resource to 309Mt confirms its status as the world’s premier hard rock lithium project
|
September 6, 2021
|
Pilbara Minerals to accelerate production with Ngungaju restart
|
June 25, 2021
|
Pilbara Minerals plots development of Pilgangoora lithium refinery
|
May 11, 2021
|
Pilbara Minerals contracts SIMPEC at Pilgangoora
|
March 4, 2021
|
Pilbara Minerals restarts Pilgangoora after police investigation
|
November 13, 2019
|
Pilbara Minerals achieves commercial production as growth plans evolve
|
March 29, 2019
|
Pilbara Minerals sets up next Pilgangoora expansion
|
March 27, 2019
|
Pilbara Minerals ramps up Pilgangoora towards commercial start
|
January 25, 2019
|
Pilgangoora DFS results support ‘compelling case’ for expansion
|
August 3, 2018
|
Pilgangoora lithium project produces first coarse concentrate
|
July 25, 2018
|
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