Mineral Resources (MinRes) has announced it will recommence operations at its Bald Hill lithium mine in Western Australia.
The restart follows a significant and sustained recovery in lithium prices and reflects extensive planning undertaken over recent months to ensure the operation can be brought back online safely and efficiently.
Located 50 kilometres south east of Kambalda in the Goldfields region of WA, Bald Hill has a production capacity of approximately 165,000 dry metric tonnes (dmt) per annum of 5.1 per cent spodumene concentrate, equivalent to 140,000dmt of SC6 per annum.
Bald Hill was placed on care and maintenance in November 2024 to preserve capital and protect the long-term value of the operation’s 58.1 million tonne Mineral Resource at 0.9 per cent Li2O until market conditions improved.
MinRes Managing Director, Chris Ellison, said the company is well placed to restart the operation quickly and to respond to improving market conditions.
“With strong and sustained demand for spodumene concentrate driving a significant recovery in prices, the time is right to restart operations at Bald Hill,” he said.
“The combination of a high-quality, production-ready asset and the in-house capability of our Mining Services business means MinRes is well placed to rapidly capitalise on the resurgent lithium market.
“Once production resumes at Bald Hill, MinRes will be the only company globally operating three hard rock lithium mines, each with their own spodumene concentrate facilities.
“This uniquely positions us as a leader in the lithium market and demonstrates our commitment to meeting the world’s growing demand for battery minerals.”
Site activity is expected to ramp up later this month, with crushing and mining operations to commence in June and first production of spodumene concentrate targeted for July.
An initial shipment from the Port of Esperance is expected in the first quarter of financial year 2027, with full production capacity anticipated in the second quarter of FY27.
MinRes’ Mining Services division will deliver mining, crushing, processing and haulage at Bald Hill, following the company’s integrated build-own-operate model.
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