Amid the global lithium downturn, Mineral Resources (MinRes) delivered a December 2024 quarter full of ups and downs.
MinRes’ mining services division delivered 68 million tonnes during the December quarter, the exact result it recorded in the previous quarter.
The company said its volume production benefited from the Onslow Iron project in Western Australia towards ramping up towards its 35-million-tonnes-per-annum nameplate capacity. However, the amount was offset by lower volumes at the Yilgarn Hub and the Bald Hill mine as those operations transitioned into care and maintenance.
More than 780 Yilgarn Hub workers have been redeployed to other MinRes operations, with the company evaluating a potential sale of the Yilgarn Hub assets.
MinRes is also looking to redeploy more than two thirds of Bald Hill’s workforce to other parts of the business.
Despite setbacks at Bald Hill, MinRes still delivered steady production across its other continuing operations.
Onslow Iron mined six million wet metric tonnes (wmt) and produced 4.4 million wmt during the December quarter, with 3.2 million wmt shipped.
Onslow Iron’s haulage operation worked alongside the project’s ramp-up. The autonomous road trains began transporting Onslow Iron product along the 150km dedicated private haul road and the third transhipper commenced operations at the Port of Ashburton in October 2024. The fourth vessel is expected to arrive in Australia in February.
Altogether, MinRes’ iron ore operations produced eight million wmt and shipped 5.2 million wmt during the December quarter.
MinRes’ lithium division continued to focus on lower-volume, higher-quality production amid current market conditions caused by a supply surplus caused by increased cheaper lithium from countries with less stringent environmental, social and governance standards.
The company produced 136,000 dry metric tonnes (dmt) of spodumene concentrate across its Mt Marion, Wodgina and Bald Hill mines, with 143,000dmt shipped.
Wodgina delivered a five per cent production increase quarter-on-quarter, with 54,000 dmt produced following an improvement in ore quality.
MinRes’ FY25 guidance has been maintained across all its continuing operations and the company concluded the quarter with $1.5 billion in liquidity and $5.1 billion in net debt.
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