Western Australia’s Lithium front runner Altura Mining has silenced many of its critics by achieving a steady increase in production at its flagship Pilgangoora Lithium mine following the completion of commissioning earlier this year.
The company has been able to consistently deliver around 14 000 tonnes of crushed spodumene from its Pilgangoora process plant each month as well as a 15% increase in ore mined during the March 2019 quarter.
Altura has continued to impress the market by achieving thee mining targets despite the time losses attributed to Cyclone Veronica, which has an adverse effect across many Pilbara based miners. The continued stability of the process plant has seen Altura ship two cargoes totaling almost 15 000 dry metric tonnes to a number of Chinese lithium converters and a smaller cargo loaded in early April.
The company has raised a total of $38.5 million during the March quarter, allowing it to continue its exploration activities at the Cleopatra and Hazelby prospects as well as bankroll commissioning and ramp up costs at the lithium plant.
Altura has also announced further plans to double its capacity through a second expansion in the first half of 2020.