Liontown roars towards earlier Kathleen Valley production

Liontown Resources is rapidly progressing its Kathleen Valley lithium project near Leinster in Western Australia with first production forecast to begin a year ahead of schedule.  A pre-feasibility study in October 2020 had first production scheduled for 2025, however a definitive feasibility study (DFS) has brought that estimate forward to the first half of 2024.

According to a statement from Liontown, the DFS confirms the potential to develop a state-of-the-art, second-generation lithium-tantalum mining and processing operation at Kathleen Valley.  Liontown chief executive officer and managing director Tony Ottaviano said the completion of the DFS marked a major step towards the company becoming a substantial global lithium producer and lays very strong foundations for its aspirations to become a world-class battery materials company.

“This is a major new Australian resource project, in a future-facing commodity, that we believe will deliver exceptional long-term returns for our shareholders, all of our other key stakeholders and the state of Western Australia.”

The Kathleen Valley lithium project is located on four granted mining licences and one mining licence application, approximately 680 kilometres north-east of Perth and 400 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie in the north-eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.

The project is readily accessible by sealed highways which connect with mineral exporting ports at both Geraldton and Esperance.