Albemarle has begun earthworks at the Kemerton Strategic Industrial Area, in Western Australia, for the construction of the company’s Kemerton lithium hydroxide (LiOH) conversion site.

Albemarle recently received environmental approval from the federal and state government for the Kemerton plant and has followed this up with the groundbreaking.

Eric Norris, Albemarle President, Lithium, said: “The site earthworks at Kemerton today are on track with our projections. Achieving this milestone underscores our commitment and confidence in developing LiOH operations in Western Australia and in our overall strategy to drive significant shareholder value and meet our customers’ demands.”

The Kemerton plant is expected to have an initial capacity of 60,000 t/y of LiOH with an ability to expand to 100,000 t/y over time. The commissioning of the site is expected to start in stages during the course of 2021.