Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Galaxy Resources has been given approval to export spodumene from its Mt Cattlin project from the Port of Esperance, in Western Australia.
The company told shareholders on Wednesday that it had received key approvals from the Department of Environment Regulations and the Southern Ports Authority, allowing exports from Mt Cattlin to start.
“Obtaining the Esperance port licence is a major milestone achieved in the ongoing preparation ahead of the start of production at Mt Cattlin in time for the first shipments later this year,” said Galaxy MD Anthony Tse.
A condition of the approval included the reduction of mica content in the spodumene, and Galaxy has now achieved a product specification of below 5% mica, which Tse said was a significant reduction from the prior product specification.
Wet commissioning of the feed classification at Mt Cattlin started in October this year, and final commissioning has been completed on the ore preparation area.
Galaxy earlier this year completed its takeover of joint venture partner General Mining, gaining full ownership of the Mt Cattlin project.
General Mining in July announced a decision to upgrade the throughput at Mt Cattlin from 800 000 t/y to 1.6-million tonnes a year, which is expected to deliver substantial operational efficiency and greater capacity to meet the current demand for spodumene production from the Chinese market.