Up for the challenge at Greenbushes

Dating back to 1888 and producing high grade lithium since 1983, recognised as containing the world’s highest grade and largest hard rock deposit of the lithium mineral spodumene, Greenbushes mine has been significant in the southwest for 130 years.  

We’ve been tasked with the construction of the structural, mechanical, piping, electrical and instrumentation (SMPE&I) works to help the mine grow and continue delivering lithium for years to come, with the team recently mobilising to site. 

Talison Lithium, who own the mine, are increasingly growing in the area and are in need of a new Mine Services Area (MSA) facility. The team recently mobilised to site to begin construction at Greenbushes, and we had a chat with Project Manager Mick Turner, who is spearheading the project about the significance of the work and what the team will be doing. 

“It’s significant to be part of this project and to help with the growth of Greenbushes, it’s an important mine in the southwest for lithium and we’re pleased to be part of that,” said Mick. 

“The scope of work includes the construction of workshops, maintenance areas, wash facilities and refueling for both the heavy mining equipment and light vehicles, so it’s quite a large scope and will have a big impact on the site’s growth. 

“We recently mobilised and it’s exciting to be part of a large project like this, so we are aiming to deliver the first constructed building being the Heavy Mining Equipment workshop by the end of the financial year 2023,” said Mick. 

The scope of work is outside of what the team normally do as they generally focus on process infrastructure rather than non-process infrastructure, however they are certainly up for the challenge and delivering a quality outcome for the customer. 

“We are keen to show the customer what we can do and look forward to delivering the project,” said Mick. 

Although a new challenge for the team, it’s not the first time we have been on site at Greenbushes with our joint venture, Mondium, having completed the Talison Tailings Retreatment Project (TRP). 

The Mondium team completed all works as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor onsite, including all engineering, procurement, management of sub-contractors, construction and wet commissioning.  

The TRP was designed to take reclaimed tailings from an existing tailings storage facility (TSF 1) and upgrade the contained lithium content to produce a saleable lithium concentrate (spodumene) and a barren tail.  

We look forward to sharing more updates as the project progresses.