Surging lithium price prompts mines to restart, M&A
· Michael West
Shuttered lithium mines are restarting production and merger and acquisition activity is picking up as the price of the key component in portable electronics rebounds.
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Core Lithium on Wednesday announced it had recommenced mining at its Finniss lithium operation south of Darwin, which had been placed into care and maintenance mode in mid-2024 after just two years of operations.
The first ore is expected to be processed in the September quarter, with a first shipment targeted for the December quarter, managing director Paul Brown said.
A day earlier, Mineral Resources said it would restart production at its Bald Hill lithium mine in Western Australia, which was similarly placed in care and maintenance mode in November 2024.
The restart is expected to create around 370 new jobs, Mineral Resources said.
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“With strong and sustained demand for spodumene concentrate driving a significant recovery in prices, the time is right to restart operations at Bald Hill,” said managing director Chris Ellison.
PLS Group, meanwhile, is scheduled to resume production at its Ngungaju hard-rock lithium processing facility in early July, after putting the WA operation into care and maintenance mode in late 2024.
PLS, formerly known as Pilbara Minerals, announced that restart in February and has been actively hiring for fly-in, fly-out positions at the plant south of Port Hedland.
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Australia’s lithium mines produce spodumene concentrate, a hard-rock lithium ore that is shipped to China for processing into lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide, an essential component of the lithium-ion batteries used to power electric vehicles, smartphones and other devices.
Lithium prices have followed a classic boom-and-bust cycle typical in commodity markets.
Prices took off in 2022 amid surging demand for electric vehicles, but then cratered the following year as a rush of investment into lithium production in Australia, South America and China oversupplied the market.
After a brutal three-year bear market, lithium prices have picked up back up again, recently hitting their highest level since mid-2023.
Lithium Prices took off in 2022 amid huge demand for electric vehicles, but then cratered in 2023. (Susie Dodds/AAP PHOTOS)That resurgence has also led to more M&A activity of ASX-listed lithium developers.
On Tuesday, Perth-headquartered European Lithium agreed to be acquired by Nasdaq-listed Critical Metals Corp in an all-scrip transaction valuing the company at $835 million, a 136 per cent premium.
Earlier in May, Africa-focused lithium developer Atlantic Lithium agreed to be acquired by a Chinese company for $US210 million ($292 million), a 26.6 per cent premium.