Covalent Lithium has awarded CIMIC Group company Thiess with a contract that will get the company to deliver mining services at the Mount Holland Lithium Mine in Western Australia.
The four-year contract will get Thiess to undertake drill and blast services, overburden and ore mining as well as equipment maintenance. While delivering the works, the company will have a strong focus on community development and protection.
“We are very pleased to be selected by Covalent to undertake mining at the Mount Holland mine. This award recognises our team’s ability to deliver sustainable mining solutions and deliver enduring value for our clients across diverse commodities.
“We look forward to working with Covalent Lithium to safely position their operations for optimal efficiency, productivity and cost performance, and contribute strongly to a clean energy future,” Thiess Executive Chairman and CEO Michael Wright said.
Thiess began mobilisation on site and early mining works in January of this year.
Covalent Lithium is a joint venture between Wesfarmers Limited and Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM).
The Mount Holland Lithium operations is located approximately 500 kilometres east of Perth and 105 kilometres south of Southern Cross.
The Mount Holland mine and concentrator sit on a brownfield site that was previously the Bounty Gold Operation, which was mostly left unrehabilitated.
The mine has an expected life of more than 40 years, producing lithium-bearing ore that is concentrated and refined to produce battery quality lithium hydroxide to be used in electric vehicles as well as battery-based energy storage systems.
Covalent Lithium estimates the production of about 50,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide annually from the Mount Holland processing plant once it has been completed.
The entire Mount Holland operations is comprised of a spodumene mine and concentrator along with a refinery located in the Kwinana Strategic Industrial Area (SIA).
In September 2021, the development of the new refinery at Kwinana was announced and followed by the appointment of Primero Group – a wholly owned subsidiary of NRW Holdings – to undertake engineering, procurement and construction of the Mount Holland concentrator.
The Mount Holland project is anticipated to create about 1,000 construction jobs and up to 350 operational jobs.
Source: Thiess; CIMIC Group; Australian Mining; Covalent Lithium; International Mining