A lithium mine half-owned by Wesfarmers is a step closer to joining the global battery supply chain after adding a renewable energy source to its plans.
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Western Australia's Environmental Protection Authority on Tuesday backed changes to plans for the once abandoned Mt Holland mine site, about 105km southeast of the historic gold-mining town Southern Cross.
The changes to the Earl Grey Lithium Project will add a solar plant, alter the air strip, include the disposal of refinery waste, and modify exclusion areas for vulnerable banksia and ground-dwelling malleefowl by clearing an extra 56 hectares of bushland.
Mine proponent Covalent Lithium - 50/50 owned by Australian industrial giant Wesfarmers and Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile - is developing the mine and a refinery in Kwinana that will take the raw material and produce battery quality lithium hydroxide.
The EPA said the amendment could go ahead, with environmental protection and restoration during and after mining a key part of the decision.
EPA chair Matthew Tonts said the authority noted the importance of lithium as a critical mineral.
"The proposed amendment includes critical infrastructure and renewable energy sources," Professor Tonts said.
The latest federal data has lithium on track to overtake wheat and beef as a leading export, as global automakers lock in secure and sustainable supplies of the critical mineral from Australia rather than China.
The new refinery is forecast to start in 2024 and produce 50,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide a year.
Construction is already underway at the mine site after approval was granted in 2019 to clear up to 386 hectares of bush for an open-cut mine pit, waste dump, processing plant, airstrip, accommodation and water supply pipeline.
Australian Associated Press
