Strong revenue and record spodumene concentrate production were among the highlights for Pilbara Minerals’ June 2024 quarter.
The lithium miner produced a record 226,200 dry metric tonnes (dmt) of spodumene concentrate produced at a unit operating cost of less than $591/dmt, a 26 per cent increase from the previous quarter.
Pilbara Minerals credited the strong operational performance to the full utilisation of the P680 primary rejection facility within the Pilgangoora operation in Port Hedland, Western Australia.
“Total material mined was (9.24 million) wet metric tonnes (wmt) compared to (9.29 million) wmt in the prior quarter with mining rates in line with plan,” Pilbara Minerals said.
“Ore mined in the quarter increased by 20 per cent to (1.84 million) wmt compared to the prior quarter. Lithium processing recoveries for the quarter were 72.2 per cent compared to 65.3 per cent in the prior quarter.
“Improved recoveries were due to improved plant stability and run-time facilitated by the optimised performance of the primary rejection facility and the execution of a suite of initiatives including the use of mobile crushing and ore sorting.”
Pilbara Minerals also saw a 43 per cent increase in sales from the previous quarter, going from 165,100dmt to 235,800dmt, on an average grade of about SC5.3 per cent lithium oxide.
The P680 and P1000 expansion projects remain on schedule and on budget, with the new P680 crushing and ore sorting facility commissioned during the quarter.
First ore from the ore sorting facility was achieved in the first week of July and the full ramp up is expected to be completed during the September 2024 quarter.
Concrete construction and underground services at P1000 are now complete, bringing the project’s completion to 60 per cent. First ore from P1000 is expected to take place in the March 2025 quarter.
Pilbara Minerals closed out the quarter with a 58 per cent increase in revenue, totalling $305 million, and a cash balance of $1.6 billion.
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