Australian miner Mineral Resources Limited is shutting down its Bald Hill lithium mine amid a crash in lithium prices, in another project curtailment in the industry that has seen prices tumble by 80% from their peak in 2022.
Slower electric vehicle (EV) sales globally and an oversupply on the market with African lithium mined by Chinese companies have kept lithium prices subdued this year.
Lithium miners have seen profits and margins shrink and projects curtailed or deferred until market conditions improve.
So Australia’s Mineral Resources said on Wednesday that its Bald Hill lithium mine will be safely transitioned into care and maintenance from this week, aiming “to preserve cash and the value of Bald Hill’s spodumene orebody for when conditions in the global lithium market improve.”
“When the global lithium price improves to a level that incentivises a restart of Bald Hill, a ramp-up back to full operation is anticipated to take approximately four to six weeks,” the lithium miner said.
The low lithium prices have hit other producers and projects, too.
The world’s largest lithium producer, North Carolina-based Albemarle, booked a net loss of $1.1 billion for the third quarter amid lower pricing in the lithium value chain.
As part of measures to reduce costs and operations, Albemarle will be reducing its global workforce by an expected 6-7% and is slashing its 2025 capital expenditures by approximately 50% versus 2024 to an anticipated range of $800 million to $900 million.
This week, Australia’s Liontown Resources said it would reduce production from its Kathleen Valley lithium project, “to prioritise higher margin ore at reduced costs to adapt to the low-price lithium environment.”
Liontown Resources is keeping the optionality for future expansion of the project “when market conditions improve,” it said.
Another Australian miner, Pilbara Minerals, cited “current market conditions” when it announced last month that it would pause construction of a processing midstream plant it is building with its joint venture partner Calix, “until market conditions are supportive or further government support for project continuation can be secured.”
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
