News Articles for Pilbara Minerals

ANALYSIS: A forecast global surge into electric cars and buyers' growing preference for the state's hard rock lithium ore is putting a rocket into the sector.

Local company Tungsten Mining has kicked off a $13.5 million capital raising as it progresses development of its Mt Mulgine tungsten project in the Murchison region.

Pilbara Minerals look set to become the world's first Lithium producer with a direct investment by a global carmaker under an innovative equity, offtake and debt financing deal with China's Great Wall Motors. The deal will help underpin the Stage 2 expansion to 5Mtpa and could be the first of similar deals by global carmakers to secure Lithium supply for their rapidly expanding electric vehicle divisions.

Pilbara Minerals has secured an offtake and $28 million equity deal with Chinese car maker Great Wall, effectively replacing a previous financial commitment from one of the aspiring miner's other offtake partners.

Two indigenous business joint ventures have been awarded a combined $5.9 million worth of contracts in the Pilbara.

Kidman Resources has finalised a $110 million joint venture agreement with Chilean company SQM for the Mt Holland lithium project, while Altura Mining has begun extracting ore at its Pilgangoora lithium project.

With Stage 1 of the giant Pilgangoora Lithium mine racing ahead, Pilbara Minerals has stepped up work on expansion plans that could make the project the world's largest Lithium mine. The ASX-listed Lithium developer yesterday announced it had awarded further key contracts, including power generation and was reworking its expansion plans to boost Stage 2 capacity from 4Mtpa to 5Mtpa.

Contract Power Group has won a contract to build, own and operate a power station at Pilbara Minerals' Pilgangoora lithium project for at least seven years, while former Fortescue Metals Group delivery manager Dale Henderson has taken over as Pilbara's project director.

Mining and civil contractor Maca has raised $60 million to expand its mining fleet, driven by what the company described as an exceptional pipeline of available work.

Pilbara Minerals are on the verge of cash flow from the massive Pilgangoora Lithium mine after awarding a contract to MACA to commence mining. Lithium prices have soared since Pilbara predicted the mine would make $121m a year and possibly up to $245m a year if they can expand mine throughput from 2mt a year to 4mt a year. The project boasts 156m tonnes grading 1.25% Lithium Oxide.

Pilbara Minerals has chosen MACA to carry out mining services work at its Pilgangoora lithium-tantalum project for an undisclosed sum.

ANALYSIS: Two local lithium players will be hoping their early move into the sector justifies the hefty interest rates on their loans.

Pilbara Minerals has signed-off four major contracts for its Pilgangoora lithium project, with RCR Tomlinson, NRW Holdings, Action Industrial Catering and the Njamal traditional owners winning the lion's share of the work.

SPECIAL REPORT: Backdoor-listed technology businesses and mining hopefuls have joined the state's top performers in financial year 2016 in Business News's annual analysis of total shareholder returns.

Pilbara Minerals are studying the potential for an even larger future expansion at Pilgangoora after new success with the drill bit produced a 15% increase in Lithium reserves. The company now have enough ore to mine for 40 years at stage 1 production levels of 2Mtpa and are looking to boost the stage 2 expansion to 5Mtpa.

Global demand for lithium is expected to increase by three to four times by 2025 and projected supplies will not keep up, Tianqi Lithium Australia general manager Phil Thick told a Mining Club lunch today.

Pilbara Minerals' Pilgangoora Lithium project has received the ultimate accolade in the form of a $20m investment by the Federal Government's Clean Energy Finance Corporation. The Government finance agency emerged recently as one of several institutional investors in Pilbara's A$130 million bond issue.

The federal government's Clean Energy Finance Corporation has emerged as a surprise backer of Pilbara Minerals' Pilgangoora lithium mine, and has outlined a broad range of projects that may attract future support.

Pilbara Minerals will soon begin constructing its Pilgangoora lithium project after its board this morning gave the green light for the $214 million development.

Fresh from last week's A$132 million bond issue, Pilbara Minerals have raised another A$80 million to finalise funding for the giant Pilgangoora Lithium development near Port Hedland. One of the world's largest proposed lithium developments right here in W.A now looks unstoppable.

Pilbara Minerals has announced another capital raising, this time by way of a placement and share purchase plan, to fund development of its Pilgangoora lithium project.

A mix of local and international financial institutions have lined up for a piece of a $132 million bond issue by Pilbara Minerals, which has paved the way for the start of major site works at the giant Pilgangoora Lithium project near Port Hedland. Pilgangoora will be one of the largest Lithium mines in the world when built.

Norway-based investment bank Pareto Securities has completed its first major Australian deal, as sole manager of a $US100 million ($A133 million) bond issue announced today by Pilbara Minerals.

Pilbara Minerals have received WA Government approval for the Pilgangoora Lithium-Tantalum project, clearing the way for construction of the world's next major Lithium supplier near Port Hedland. The company also hinted that news about project financing was imminent, which was widely expected after last week's announcement of a major off-take agreement being struck.

Pilbara Minerals has been given a final environmental tick for its Pilgangoora lithium project, and is now cleared for construction, but the company will be continuing work on project financing.

Three contractors have won work for Altura Mining's planned $140 million Pilgangoora lithium mine, as the company continues work to secure debt financing for the project.

Pilbara Minerals now have offtake deals for 100% of Pilgangoora production, with a serious Chinese Lithium player committing to more than half of the project's output for the next 10 years. Pilbara's share price soared on news of the deal with Ganfeng Lithium, which has also promised at least $20m in funding support.

Shares in Pilbara Minerals were up 20 per cent on news the company has inked a major offtake and $US20 million investment agreement it says will pave the way for final funding of development of its Pilgangoora lithium project.

Pilbara Minerals' giant Pilgangoora Lithium deposit just keeps getting better, with 10 tonnes of bulk samples from the Central pit area returning an average grade of more than 2% Lithium. The news of exceptional in-situ grades comes as Pilbara finalises a direct shipping offtake agreement and a mining proposal for a 2Mtpa development.

Pilbara Minerals has signed a farm-in deal with Atlas Iron over its Mt Francisco lithium project, and the two companies have also struck a preliminary agreement allowing Pilbara to use Atlas Iron's existing infrastructure to support early shipments from the Pilgangoora project.

In an era where major resource developments can take decades to get into production, Pilbara Minerals are defying all odds at their world-class Pilgangoora Lithium project near Port Hedland. The company announced this week they had cleared a key environmental hurdle and were now awaiting just one more bureaucratic sign-off before full-scale construction begins.

Perth-based Spitfire Materials is seeking to grow its gold exploration portfolio through the acquisition of a private company led by Pilbara Minerals directors Neil Biddle and John Young, in a scrip deal worth $4.7 million.

Lithium Australia's $23.8 million takeover bid for rival Lepidico appears to be heading for rejection, with the target company not confident about the operational methods of Lithium's core asset.

Investors rarely get interested in metallurgical flowsheets, but they should make an exception by taking a closer look at some exciting news out of Pilbara Minerals recently. The developer of the Pilgangoora Lithium project told the market that pilot plant trials had exceeded expectations by up to 23% which should look good when translated to the bottom line.

Pilbara Minerals' Lithium deposit at Pilgangoora has increased in size yet again after more drilling success and the acquisition of the neighbouring Lynas Find deposit. The Pilgangoora project near Port Hedland is now firmly established as one of the world's largest hard rock Lithium deposits and is on track to become a globally significant producer this year.

Pilbara Minerals have blazed a trail from exploration to Jorc Resource to feasibility study to the letting of an engineering contract this week in a remarkable text book example of how to make money from mining quickly. This week the company announced they have awarded RCR Tomlinson the $138m contract to build their giant Pilgangoora Lithium mine near Port Hedland.

Pilbara Minerals has awarded a $148 million contract to RCR Tomlinson for the engineering, procurement and construction of processing facilities at its Pilgangoora lithium project south of Port Hedland.

Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group has named non-executive director and former Helloworld and Heytesbury executive, Elizabeth Gaines, as its new chief financial officer.

Mineral explorers often stumble over approvals when it comes to getting into development. Pilbara Minerals however are showing how it's done with news of several key approvals, including an all-important Native Title agreement this week for their giant Pilgangoora Lithium mine. Project permiting is expected in Q1 2017 with first ore shipped by July 2017.

Pilbara Minerals' rapid rise reached a key milestone this week with the start of earthworks at Pilgangoora, one of the world's largest Lithium development projects. The news coincided with the company's AGM where shareholders were told how their company had achieved remarkable growth from a market cap of just $11 million two years ago to $700 million today.