Bald Hill Lithium mine under maintenance mode

Australian Mining has informed that Mineral Resources announced that its Bald Hill lithium mine in Western Australia will shift into care and maintenance mode due to current low lithium prices.

Strategic Acquisition

Mineral Resources acquired Bald Hill for $260 million in late 2023 to ensure profits remained within Australia. By transitioning the mine into care and maintenance, MinRes aims to preserve cash flow and safeguard the spodumene orebody’s value until the global lithium market rebounds.

Operational Pause & Optimisation

Mining and mobile maintenance activities will cease on November 13, with operations at the spodumene concentrate plant and accommodation village halting by early December. During this period, MinRes will continue to optimise mine plans and operating structures for a future restart.

Final Shipment & Employee Impact

The last shipment of spodumene concentrate is scheduled for December. Unfortunately, around 300 employees will be affected, but Mineral Resources is committed to redeploying staff across its other WA sites. Where redeployment isn’t possible, redundancy packages will be offered.

A dedicated team of 10 employees will stay on-site to manage the scale-down and ongoing care and maintenance.

Positive Outlook on Bald Hill’s Potential

Despite the temporary shutdown, Mineral Resources has boosted Bald Hill’s mineral resource by 168%—now standing at 58.1 million tonnes at 0.94% lithium oxide.

Chris Ellison, Mineral Resources Managing Director, stated: “Bald Hill represents a significant value opportunity for Mineral Resources once lithium market conditions improve. The decision to place it on care and maintenance is prudent and aligns with our recent cost reduction efforts.”

Mineral Resources remains focused on monitoring lithium prices and operational costs to resume operations when the market stabilizes.

Source of feature photo: Mineral Resources official webpage