Lithium Joint Venture

LITHIUM JOINT VENTURE

LITHIUM JOINT VENTURE WITH TIANQI LITHIUM CORPORATION

Ownership
IGO 49%

In 2021, Tianqi Lithium Corporation (51%) and IGO Limited (49%) incorporated a new Joint Venture (JV) called Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia (TLEA).

TLEA is focused on developing and operating world class lithium assets, with assets in Western Australia comprising of a 51% stake in the Talison Lithium Pty Ltd (Talison) Greenbushes Lithium Operation (49% owned by Albemarle Corporation) and 100% ownership of the Kwinana Lithium Hydroxide Refinery.

The JV is a global lithium partnership between IGO and Tianqi, a lithium industry leader, and will be the exclusive vehicle for any future lithium related investments outside of China.

GREENBUSHES LITHIUM MINE

IGO/Tianqi JV 51% | Albermarle Corporation 49%

The Greenbushes Lithium Operation is a large-scale, long life, low cost, hard rock mine with spodumene concentrate plants, located proximal to the Town of Greenbushes approximately 250km south of Perth, Western Australia. The Greenbushes Lithium Operation has the highest Ore Reserve grade of any hard rock lithium mine globally.

Talison has been mining and processing lithium at the Greenbushes Lithium Operation since 1983. The site comprises a large open pit mine, four processing plants – Chemical Grade Plant #1 (CGP1), Chemical Grade Plant #2 (CGP2), a tailings retreatment plant (TRP) and a Technical Grade Plant (TGP) which produces technical grade lithium concentrates and associated infrastructure. These plants combined have total nominal processing capacity of 6.5 million tonnes per annum producing up to 1.5 million tonnes of lithium mineral concentrate per annum.

Talison is currently constructing a third Chemical Grade Processing Plant (CGP3). CGP3 will have a processing capacity of 2.4 million tonnes per annum producing up to 500,000 tonnes per annum of lithium mineral concentrate. CGP3 is on track for commissioning in the first half of 2025.

Planning is underway for a fourth Chemical Grade Plant (CGP4). This project (subject to any final JV approvals and market conditions) is planned to be funded from existing Talison debt facilities, combined with Talison cash flows.

Greenbushes Lithium Mine - Chemical Grade Plant 2 (CGP2)

The Greenbushes Lithium Operation JORC Code reportable Ore Reserve as at 31 March 2018, underpins a mine life in excess of 20 years. In addition to the in-situ ore bodies of Central Lode and Kapanga, Tailings Storage Facility #1 also has a significant lithium endowment (refer to table below):

KWINANA LITHIUM HYDROXIDE REFINERY 

IGO/Tianqi JV 51%

Kwinana is one of the largest fully automated battery grade lithium hydroxide facilities globally and the first to be built in Australia. Kwinana is approximately 35km south of Perth, Western Australia, and only 200km north of Greenbushes, adjacent to major supply chain logistics.

The first production train (Train 1) commenced commercial production during the December 2022 quarter, and is working towards nameplate capacity of 24,000 tonnes.

TLEA is progressing towards the front-end engineering and design work related to Train 2 – with the lead contractor to complete the required FEED study, expected to be appointed in the December 2023 quarter, with FEED completion in mid CY24.

Kwinana forms part of a vertically integrated lithium value chain with Greenbushes supplying the chemical grade lithium spodumene concentrate feedstock required to produce battery grade lithium.

Kwinana will supply lithium hydroxide to customers, which includes leading global battery cell manufacturers from South Korea and Europe. Kwinana’s customers will benefit from strong ESG credentials and visibility over both the raw material supply chain and the source of intermediate processing for the premium battery grade lithium hydroxide product.

Kwinana Lithium Hydroxide Refinery

(1) ASX Release - IGO Invests in Global Lithium JV with Tianqi - 9 December 2020; Mineral Resources are inclusive of Ore Reserves. The estimate has not been depleted for mining after 31 March 2018; Tianqi advised that from the 31 March 2018 estimate to 30 June 2020 5.2Mt grading 2.71% Li2O has been processed. Greenbushes mined 1.24 Mt of ore grading 2.41% Li20 from 1 September 2021 to 31 December 2021. https://www.igo.com.au/site/PDF/e1502731-fdea-4ebb-8a53-492b18bfadae/CY21MineralResourceandOreReserveEstimateUpdate