Tag Archives: Tony Ottaviano

Liontown awards Kathleen Valley wet plant lithium contract to Monadelphous

Energy minerals, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining services, , , , , ,

Liontown Resources says Monadelphous has been awarded the wet plant structural, mechanical, piping and electrical & instrumentation contract for the Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia.

This appointment, valued at approximately A$100 million ($64 million), enables a vertically integrated approach to construction of the critical path wet plant, according to Liontown, providing efficiencies and underpinning confidence in the schedule to first production in mid-2024. It also signifies the final major construction contract award for Kathleen Valley.

The contract scope includes installation of 1,200 t of structural steel, 20,000 m of piping, 600 mechanical equipment items, 200 platework items, the SAG mill, magnetics circuit, flotation circuit, tantalum recovery circuit, concentrate dewatering and tails treatment.

Monadelphous commenced work under a Letter of Intent and began mobilising to site in August under a staged contractual award approach.

By deploying lessons learned from industry peers, the wet plant has been designed to a high specification with quality and hard-wearing materials, including polyurethane-lined steel piping and ceramic lined high-wear areas, designed to reduce future maintenance requirements, Liontown said. In addition, the adoption of the lessons learned will be applied during the commissioning and ramp up of the plant.

Liontown’s Managing Director and CEO, Tony Ottaviano, said: “The vertically integrated approach of combining the SMP and E&I packages enables Monadelphous to efficiently deliver both programs of work to a very high standard and played a large part in its successful tender.

“Monadelphous has a large resources pool, experience in the hard-rock lithium sector, and a proven track record of delivering large-scale multi-disciplinary projects in Western Australia, which came through strongly throughout the evaluation process. Their demonstrated skills, capability and professionalism reflects Liontown’s expectations of a partnership. There is a clear line of sight to first spodumene production mid-next year.”

The Kathleen Valley operations have been optimised for an initial 3 Mt/y, producing approximately 500,000 t/y of spodumene concentrate with a 4 Mt/y expansion planned in Year 6, to deliver approximately 700,000 t/y of spodumene concentrate. Mining will predominately be underground, allowing direct access to higher grade mineralisation while minimising waste and the environmental footprint of the project. Mined ore will be processed through a whole-of-ore flotation circuit which will provide an estimated recovery rate of 78% across the mine life and an estimated site recovery for tantalum concentrate of 42%.

Liontown awards A$175 million Kathleen Valley lithium haulage contract to Qube

Energy minerals, Mineral project development, Mining services, , , , , , ,

Liontown Resources has awarded the spodumene and direct shipping ore (DSO) haulage services contract for its Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia to integrated logistics solutions provider, Qube Holdings Limited.

Following what Liontown referred to as an extensive tender process, Qube has secured the five-year contract, which involves loading spodumene concentrate at Kathleen Valley; haulage of the concentrate to the Port of Geraldton; storage and stockpile management at the port and the outload to port infrastructure for shipment to Liontown customers. Storage will be in a dedicated facility within the Port of Geraldton.

Qube will use ultra-Quad road-trains to truck all concentrate from Kathleen Valley to the dedicated storage facility at the Port of Geraldton for the duration of the contract. Qube will use its 24/7 fleet monitoring centre in Perth to manage safety and environmental outcomes.

The contract is due to commence in mid-2024 in line with process plant ramp-up. Provision has been made for the services to be provided earlier for DSO as Liontown nears completion of offtake and processing options. As well as generating early revenue for Liontown, selling and shipping DSO will allow the company to trial the haulage logistics chain with lower grade material before first production is achieved from Kathleen Valley in mid-2024.

The concentrate haulage services contract, which is conditional upon Qube finalising arrangements to secure the storage facility at the Port of Geraldton, is valued at approximately A$175 million ($119 million) over the five-year contract term.

Qube has committed to the latest technology in driver and trucking safety as well as pursuing measurable carbon reduction initiatives as part of Liontown’s broader ESG commitments, working with the Kathleen Valley Tjiwarl Traditional Owners and exploring numerous revenue-generating opportunities with Tjiwarl businesses in the coming months, Liontown says. The contract will generate around 45 new positions and the Quad-trailers will be sourced in Western Australia.

Liontown’s Managing Director and CEO, Tony Ottaviano, said: “We look forward to working with Qube on the haulage and storage of our spodumene concentrate and DSO material from Kathleen Valley as well as benefiting from their expertise in the industry, especially with their extensive experience managing spodumene for others.

“This contract coupled with the Underground Mining Services (due this quarter) represents one of the last few outstanding contracts to be awarded as we progress Kathleen Valley towards first production mid-2024.”

Kathleen Valley is one of the world’s largest and highest-grade hard-rock lithium deposits and, with an initial 2.5 Mt/y production capacity, is expected to supply circa-500,000 t/y of 6% lithium oxide concentrate, according to the company.

Zenith Energy, Liontown go big with proposed hybrid power plan at Kathleen Valley lithium project

Energy minerals, Mineral project development, Mining services, Power supply for mines, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Zenith Energy and Liontown Resources have partnered on what they say is Australia’s largest off-grid renewable energy hybrid power station project.

The letter of award between the two companies covers a potential contract to build, own, and operate the hybrid power station in Australia at Liontown’s Kathleen Valley Project in Western Australia.

The award will see Zenith Energy construct a 95 MW hybrid power station at Kathleen Valley in the Goldfields-Esperance region, which includes 30 MW of wind capacity, 16 MWp fixed axis solar PV array and a 17 MW/19 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS).

Kathleen Valley is one of the world’s largest and highest-grade hard-rock lithium deposits and, with an initial 2.5 Mt/y production capacity, is expected to supply circa-500,000 t/y of 6% lithium oxide concentrate, according to the company. With first production expected in June quarter of 2024, the deposit will also produce tantalum pentoxide.

Zenith Managing Director, Hamish Moffat, says the partnership will allow Zenith Energy to demonstrate its innovation, flexibility and expertise to deliver low-carbon emitting hybrid power solutions.

“Zenith Energy is proud to continue to play a lead role in the energy transition, and to provide like-minded partners with a glide path to net zero,” he said. “The project also further demonstrates Zenith Energy’s continued commitment to increasing the proportion of renewable generation in our portfolio.”

Artist impressions of what the Kathleen Valley site will look like (and above)

Moffat says the thermal components of the power station are designed to operate in ‘engine off’ mode at various times, delivering 100% renewable energy generation to Kathleen Valley.

“It’s an exciting opportunity to showcase our expertise, and the ability of renewables to deliver reliable, continuous supply, to power an entire mining operation,” he said. “It will once again raise the industry benchmark in renewable energy integration and demonstrates our commitment to power decarbonisation.”

Other unique aspects of the agreement include:

  • Largest off-grid hybrid power station in Australia: The hybrid power station is currently expected to have the largest off-grid renewable capacity of any mining project in the country, with 46 MW and 17 MW BESS; and
  • Renewable incentives: A combination of incentives to produce renewable power over thermal power together with a renewable energy guarantee will allow Liontown to meet and exceed its renewable energy factor target of 60% at startup and beyond.

Liontown Managing Director and CEO, Tony Ottaviano, says Liontown is delighted to partner with such an experienced and highly competent power producer.

“We believe Zenith Energy is an ideal partner to delivery an industry leading hybrid power station to meet Liontown’s energy needs and requirements for a high-capacity renewable solution,” Ottaviano said. “The hybrid power station proposed will enable Liontown to exceed our target of achieving at least 60% renewable energy at project start-up and beyond.”

Moffat says Zenith Energy is engaged with Traditional Owners, recently announcing a collaboration with Tjiwarl Contracting Services to work together to deliver low carbon emission power solutions for miners and communities on Tjiwarl native title determined lands.

Zenith Energy and Liontown have agreed key commercial terms and are working to finalise arrangements under a binding long term build, own and operate power purchase agreement.

Liontown secures Metso Outotec SAG mill ahead of Kathleen Valley lithium FID

Comminution of minerals, Energy minerals, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , , , , ,

Liontown Resources Ltd says it has awarded a key contract to Metso Outotec for the design, fabrication and delivery of a SAG mill for its flagship Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia.

Following the completion of the definitive feasibility study (DFS) for Kathleen Valley in November 2021, the company has completed further engineering optimisation to confirm the scope and duty of the SAG mill to a sufficient level of detail to enable it to place the order with the OEM.

The contract, which has a value of circa-A$10 million ($7.2 million) and is in accordance with DFS estimates, is for the design, fabrication and delivery of a 7.9 m diameter and 4.4 m effective grinding length 5.5 MW SAG mill. This is inclusive of all lining, lubrication, cooling, electrical and mechanical drive systems necessary for installation and commissioning.

The SAG mill, from Metso Outotec’s Premier™ range (an example above), will accommodate both base production of 2.5 Mt/y and the planned expansion to 4 Mt/y in year six of the mine plan, Liontown said.

The SAG mill is one of several critical long-lead items identified for early award and represents the largest single piece of equipment required to be purchased for the project by size, value and lead time, the company added.

“Detailed engineering and design for the A$473 million Kathleen Valley project continues and Liontown is targeting the award of all key equipment packages over the next six months to maintain schedule and meet its target of first production of lithium concentrate in 2024,” it said.

Other key project deliverables including final permitting and securing the engineering, procurement and construction management partner to build and commission the Kathleen Valley project are progressing to meet the targeted Final Investment Decision milestone by the end of the June quarter.

Liontown’s Managing Director and CEO, Tony Ottaviano, said: “The SAG mill contract is the first of the long-lead items to be ordered and represents an important milestone for the Kathleen Valley project. Placing this significant order with a world-class partner in Metso Outotec is a great way to start the year and reflects our commitment to advance the Kathleen Valley project rapidly towards first production.”

The November 2021 DFS outlined base production of 2.5 Mt/y, producing around 500,000 t/y of spodumene concentrate with a 4 Mt/y expansion planned in year six, to deliver circa-700,000 t/y of spodumene concentrate.

The Metso Outotec Premier horizontal grinding mills are customisable solutions built on state-of-the-art grinding mill technology, process expertise and design capability, the OEM says. They are engineered to “excel and create vast possibilities” for customers and applications.