Perth-based lithium producer Altura Mining has been placed in receivership after the ASX-listed company was unable to refinance its debt, placing 100 jobs at risk.
The state government has allocated $3.8 million for studies into reopening the rail line to the Greenbushes lithium mine and building unloading facilities at Kwinana and Bunbury.
Albemarle Corporation could have the whip hand in a further consolidation of Western Australia's lithium industry, as its partner in the Greenbushes mine, Tianqi Lithium, seeks to sell a stake in its Kwinana refinery and/or the mine itself.
In an initiative led by the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA, the Western Australian resources sector has pledged $6.6 million to Royal Flying Doctor Service Western Operations, Foodbank WA and Lifeline WA.
A decision by Wesfarmers and partner SQM to pause investments at the Mount Holland mine and Kwinana refinery bring to about $3 billion the value of lithium projects deferred in Western Australia during the past year.
Rio Tinto has awarded Perth-based engineering company Mondium with a $400 million contract for works at the Western Turner Syncline phase two mine, located in the Pilbara.
Southern Cross Electrical Engineering has been awarded $100 million in contracts, including works with Talison Lithium, Energy Resources and MARBL Lithium.
Click through to read Business News's annual list of WA's 20 biggest exporters, with data on companies such as Chevron, Roy Hill, Gold Corporation and Glencore.
Galaxy Resources has confirmed interest in striking a downstream processing deal with Alita Resources' offtake partner, just a day after placing the lithium miner into receivership, while Talison is reconsidering the timing of its $516 million stage three expansion project at Greenbushes.
Business News has updated its listing of WA's biggest mining projects to reflect the downturn in lithium, the dearth of new gold mines and the increasing dominance of iron ore.
A big expansion of lithium production at the Greenbushes mine is a step closer after Talison Lithium was given environmental approval for its plans to lift output to 2.8 million tonnes per annum.
An $800 million expansion of Talison Lithium's Greenbushes site will go ahead after Talison and Global Advanced Metals resolved a legal dispute over the plans.
Talison Lithium and Global Advanced Metals have reached an in-principle settlement deal in their legal dispute over expansion plans for the Greenbushes mine.
NRW Holdings has announced a series of contracts worth about $92 million, including an extension at Talison Lithium's Greenbushes mine and work at BHP Billiton's South Flank project.
Talison Lithium has confirmed it will build a third concentrator at the Greenbushes lithium mine to boost output to 1.95 million tonnes per annum, but the owner of tantalum rights at the project has again warned the expansion will be subject to an ongoing legal battle.
Three local companies have secured work across the state, with Kerman Contracting, Adco Constructions and WestStar Industrial all announcing recent contract wins.
Work is continuing on the stage one expansion at Greenbushes lithium mine, according to Talison Lithium, despite the business hitting a legal speed bump in a dispute with Global Advanced Metals.
Australia outperformed most other jurisdictions as a destination for Chinese direct investment in 2017 despite a fall in flows and declining confidence in the country as a safe location for capital, according to KPMG.
A plan to redouble capacity at Talison Lithium's Greenbushes mine was lodged with the federal government's environmental regulator last week, while US-based Albemarle Corporation has updated its timeframe for a Kemerton refinery.
Kerman Contracting has won a $20 million contract for works associated with the upgrade of the crushing circuit at Talison Lithium's Greenbushes operation in the South West.
Tawana Resources has opened the state's fifth lithium operation, with the ASX-listed company announcing today that production has started at its jointly owned Bald Hill project in the eastern Goldfields.
Talison Lithium has engaged MSP Engineering to conduct a feasibility study into another expansion at its Greenbushes project while a $320 million upgrade, set to double production, is already under way.
Global Advanced Metals has submitted a development plan to begin direct tantalum mining at Greenbushes in Western Australia's South West, as it continues legal proceedings against the company that mines lithium at the same site.
SPECIAL REPORT: Ten lithium projects under construction or in advanced planning to bring new lithium supply onto the market will dramatically boost exports of the commodity in coming years.
Chinese company Tianqi Lithium and its head contractor MSP Engineering are on track to achieve 80 per cent Western Australian content on two big construction projects worth more than $700 million.
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.
SPECIAL REPORT: The value of investment into WA gold projects is about four times as much as this time last year, while growth in spending on lithium has been even more substantial.
The joint venture partners behind the Mt Marion lithium mine near Kalgoorlie have heralded an inaugural shipment of ore to China, with Mineral Resources becoming the state's third lithium producer.
Iron ore producers have maintained their dominance over the BNiQ Search Engine Biggest Exporters list, as LNG producers are slow to start up. Click through to see the annual list of the state's biggest exporting companies.
