The Growing Kalgoorlie-Boulder Economic Development Conference jumped out of the blocks in the morning session, with lithium miner Neometals revealing its plans to build a new lithium refinery 5km outside Kalgoorlie-Boulder township. In a major economic shale-up for the Goldfields region, the downstream processing plant will create more than 100 jobs and the capacity to produce an initial 10,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide annually – a substance crucial to the battery making process.

Lithium is poised to become a key plank of Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s mining economy, following minerals developer Neometals’ decision to base a proposed $200 million lithium refinery in the WA gold capital. Neometals boss Chris Reed yesterday revealed the company had executed a two-year option to sub-lease a 40ha industrial estate at West Kalgoorlie, on the northern side of Great Eastern Highway, for the 10,000 tonne-a-year lithium hydroxide plant. Speaking at the Growing Kalgoorlie-Boulder 2018 Economic Development Conference in Perth, Mr Reed said the proposed site was well situated, 70km from its part-owned Mt Marion lithium mine, and provided an opportunity to minimise costs while capitalising on the lithium market rise.

Battery materials company Neometals is on the hunt for an off-take partner after selecting a site near Kalgoorlie for the latest lithium hydroxide plant slated for construction in Western Australia. Neometals has signed an option agreement with the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder to sublease a 40 hectare site for a 10,000 tonne-a-year lithium hydroxide plant. It is estimated such a plant would cost close to $200 million to build and bring total potential processing capacity in WA to more than 200,000 tonnes a year.