Mining Intelligence and News
Australia

Pilgangoora Operation

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Categories

Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Lithium
  • Tantalum
  • Spodumene
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotPilgangoora Operation – the largest independent hard-rock lithium operation in the world.

The Operation includes open pits and two processing plants (Pilgan and Ngungaju). Pilbara Minerals has two expansion projects underway, P680 and P1000.

P680 Primary Rejection Facility successfully commissioned in October 2023, and first ore produced. P1000 expansion project and Mid-Stream Demonstration Plant progressed and remain on schedule.

FY24 target:
- Complete construction and commence commissioning of the new company owned integrated crushing and ore sorting facility to increase the ore throughput capacity of the Pilgan Plant to ~5 Mtpa in support of future project expansions. Commissioning of the Crushing and Ore Sorting Facility targeted for Q4 FY24 with ramp-up scheduled during Q1 FY25.
- Commence construction of the P1000 Project with the aim of increasing total spodumene concentrate concentrate production capacity to up to 1 Mtpa with first ore targeted for Q3 FY25.
Related AssetNgungaju (Altura Lithium) Mine

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Pilbara Minerals Ltd. 100 % Indirect
Pilgangoora Operations Pty Ltd (operator) 100 % Direct
Pilbara Minerals wholly owns the Pilgangoora operation through its subsidiary Pilgangoora Operations Pty Ltd.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Pegmatite

Summary:

The Pilgangoora pegmatite deposit is one of the largest hard rock lithium deposits in the world.

The Pilgangoora pegmatite district is located within the East Strelley greenstone belt, approximately 30 km east of Wodgina. Three principal pegmatite groups or domains are identified in the centre of the project area: Eastern, Central and South. Pegmatites of the principal domains have a strike length of up to 1.4 km, and mostly range in thickness from 1-30 m, although pegmatites in the Central domain may be up to 70 m thick. Two outlying pegmatite groups, Monster and Southern have strike lengths of up to 350 m and 500 m respectively. Pegmatites strike sub-parallel to the dominant north-northwest trending fabric of the greenstone belt with variable dips ranging from shallow to subvertical 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 mineralised domains are hosted in an area stretching 8,500m (north-south from Lynas Find and Monster down to South End), ranging between 50-1,500m (east-west) in multiple veins and ranging between (minus) -550m and 220m RL (AMSL).

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.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

The DSO program was suspended in Q2 FY2019 and subsequently terminated.
CommodityUnits202420232022202120202019
Spodumene kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe175
Tantalite t  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe82
All production numbers are expressed as concentrate. ^ Guidance / Forecast.

Operational metrics

Metrics202320222021202020192018
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Annual processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2 Mt2 Mt
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2,431,117 wmt344,549 wmt
Waste  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe8,422,540 wmt4,835,178 wmt
Total tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe10,853,657 wmt5,179,727 wmt
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1,464,652 wmt
Stripping / waste ratio  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe3.8

Production Costs

CommodityUnits20242023202220212020
Total cash costs (sold) Spodumene AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
^ Guidance / Forecast.
** Net of By-Product.

Financials

Units202420232022202120202019
Capital expenditures (planned) M AUD  ....  Subscribe
Revenue M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 132.4  
Operating Income M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
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After-tax Income M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
EBIT M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
EBITDA M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Operating Cash Flow M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

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