Liontown banks milestone quarter

Liontown Resources is celebrating a successful September quarter thanks to progress made at its Kathleen Valley lithium operation in Western Australia.

The ramp-up in production at the project was full steam ahead, with milestones including the maiden shipment and first sale of spodumene concentrate.

Liontown managing director and chief executive officer Tony Ottaviano described the sale as “outstanding progress” that cements the company’s status as the world’s newest major lithium producer.

“Our quarterly results reflect strong performance in areas within our control, even as we adapt to the challenges presented by the low-price lithium environment,” he said.

“These results demonstrate the effectiveness of Liontown’s thorough test work, engineering, process flow design, and management of Tier 1 contractors and equipment.”

Production is progressing to plan for Liontown, with Kathleen Valley offering up around 28,000 dry metric tonnes (dmt) of spodumene concentrate in the eight weeks to the end of the quarter.

The ramp-up was helped along by the nearly 2000m of underground mine development drilling. This led to the first development ore being extracted from Kathleen Valley’s Mt Mann pit.

Safety was a highlight for Liontown in the September quarter, with the company holding its low lost time injury frequency rate steady at 0.32 and reducing its total reportable injury frequency rate to 5.68.

The company also expanded its partnership with LG Energy Solution, which includes a $372.3 million 10-year offtake extension and downstream collaboration agreement to explore the feasibility of establishing a lithium refinery.

“The execution of a strategic funding arrangement with our customer LG Energy Solution ensures increased liquidity to fund working capital during the ramp-up phase, supporting our ongoing operations,” Ottaviano said.

“We remain committed to maintaining discipline in our operations as we did during construction, continuously reviewing and optimising our cost base, including the mine plan.

“This strategy will position us for long-term success and deliver shareholder value as we prepare to capitalise on future market opportunities.”