EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT

Altura breaks ground

Bulk earthworks are underway at Altura Mining's $A139.7 million Pilgangoora lithium project in th...

Kristie Batten

This article is 8 years old. Images might not display.

As planned, NRW Holdings started the earthworks after Altura received all required approvals.

NRW was awarded the $110 million mine development and services contract last month.

Altura said the start of earthworks put it on track to achieve first sales in early 2018.

The 70-person accommodation village has also been commissioned to house construction personnel.

The Pilgangoora development comprises a 1.4 million tonne per annum plant, to process as much as 1.54Mtpa, to produce an annual average of 219,000 tonnes of 6% spodumene concentrate at total cash costs of $315.90 per wet metric tonne.

The 2016 definitive feasibility study returned a post-tax NPV of $280 million, at a 10% discount rate, an IRR of 46.7%, and a payback period of 2.1 years.

Pre-tax annual cashflow is forecast to be $80.6 million over the 13.2-year life of mine, while revenue would be just over $2 billion.

Altura is yet to make a final investment decision as funding is yet to be secured.

The company expects to fund the development via a mix of debt and equity, which will be partially covered by J&R Optimum’s recent $41.6 million investment.

Altura was last week admitted to the All Ordinaries index.

Its shares rose by half a cent this morning to 16.5c.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining News Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining News Intelligence team.

MiningNews.net Research Report 2025

The MNN Research Report 2025 provides insights into critical mining themes in Australia/Oceania, including top projects, C-suite priorities, risk, ESG performance and investor sentiment.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence: Investor Sentiment Report 2025

Exclusive insights into the plans, priorities and preferences of 130+ mining investors and top factors influencing investment decisions in 2025.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence World Risk Report 2024 (feat. MineHutte ratings)

A detailed analysis of mining investment risks across 117 jurisdictions globally, assessed across six risk categories and an industrywide survey.

editions

Mining Company ESG Index: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The Mining Company ESG Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars.