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Australia

Mt Cattlin Mine

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Categories

Summary

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusCare and Maintenance
Commodities
  • Spodumene
  • Lithium
  • Tantalum
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
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SnapshotMt Cattlin is produces high-quality spodumene concentrate, qualified for use across the global lithium supply chain.

The Mt Cattlin operation was placed on care and maintenance on 1 July 2025 due to due to market conditions. Waste stripping for the Stage 4 open pit operation was suspended in September 2024 with mining of the Stage 3 open pit operations completed in January 2025. The potential for underground mining to extend the mine's life is the subject of current studies.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Rio Tinto plc 100 % Indirect
The Mt Cattlin operation is 100% owned by Rio Tinto.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Pegmatite

Summary:

The Mt Cattlin deposit is a spodumene-rich, tantalite-bearing pegmatite within the Ravensthorpe Terrane, with host rocks comprising the Annabelle Volcanics to the west and the Manyutup Tonalite to the east. The contact between these rock types transects the deposit area.

Several sub-vertical dolerite and quartz-gabbro dykes, trending roughly east-northeast and north, intersect all the lithologies including the pegmatite units. A significant sub-vertical fault with a north-northwest trending orientation transects the western side of the currently defined orebody and offsets the pegmatite as well as the main east-northeast trending dolerite dyke. Displacement across this fault appears to be oblique, with a west block down sinistral movement. The weathering profile across the Mt Cattlin area is typically shallow, with fresh rock encountered sometimes at depths of less than 20 m below the surface.

Lithium and tantalum mineralisation occurs almost exclusively within the pegmatites. In places, the pegmatite occurs as stacked horizons that overlap in cross section. The current extent of mineralisation covers an area of around 1.6 km east-west and 1 km north-south. The main pegmatite units mined to date generally lie between 30 m and 60 m below the surface, although in some locations they could be found as surface outcrop. Mineralised pegmatite units have been drilled up to 180 m below the surface to the south, west and southwest of the main orebody and may have the potential to be mined from underground.

The pegmatites have a diverse mineralogy hosting a rich array of minerals with spodumene as the dominant lithium ore mineral. Several types of spodumene are observed, which include light green and white varieties. Tantalum occurs as the manganese-rich end members of the columbite-tantalite series, including manganotantalite and microlite (Sweetapple, 2010).

Dimensions
The Mt Cattlin pegmatites strike north-south and are typically between 10 m and 30 m wide and are typically flat-lying or with a subtle dip east of around 5 to 10.

Several different pegmatites have been identified, either as separate intrusions or due to fault offsets, over a strike length of 1,300 m, an across strike extent of 1,700 m and down to a depth of greater than 300 m below surface.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Water usage

Parameter20232022
Water use efficiency 1.19 m3/t1.37 m3/t

Commodity Production

Mt Cattlin spodumene operation in Western Australia was placed on care and maintenance by end of March 2025.
CommodityProductUnits202520242023202220212020201920182017
Spodumene Concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 192 157 156
Li2O t  ....  Subscribe 0 0 0

Operational metrics

Metrics20242023202220212020201920182017
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Annual processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 1.8 Mt 1.8 Mt 1.6 Mt
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 1,790,049 wmt 1,777,720 wmt 1,321,715 wmt
Total tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 4,625,344 bcm 3,458,010 bcm 2,052,813 bcm
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 1,695,369 wmt 1,703,503 wmt 1,371,365 wmt
Waste  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 1,576,170 bcm

Production Costs

CommodityUnits2020201920182017
Cash costs Spodumene USD  ....  Subscribe 391 / dmt   451 / dmt   346 / dmt  
Cash costs (sold) Spodumene USD 393 / dmt   411 / dmt  

Mine Financials

Units20242020201920182017
Capital expenditures M USD  ....  Subscribe 9.3   32.8  
Revenue M  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 69.5  USD 153.9  USD 126  AUD
Pre-tax Income M  ....  Subscribe -223.3  USD 26.1  USD 33  AUD
EBITDA M  ....  Subscribe 23.8  USD 70.5  USD

Aerial view:

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