Greenbushes

Windfield Holdings, a fully owned subsidiary of the Chinese company Chendgdu Tianqi Industry Group, has wholly taken over Talison Lithium Limited, the owners of the Greenbushes lithium mine in south west Western Australia, 80 kilometres south east of Bunbury. The Greenbushes mine consists of a number of open cut mines that mine pegmatite ore that is regarded as hosting the largest and highest grade hard rock lithium deposit in the world. Minerals recovered from the Greenbushes mining operation are used in glassware, ceramics and dry batteries.

Greenbushes is Sited in a State Forest
The Greenbushes Mine is adjacent to the town of Greenbushes and 250 kilometres from Perth. It is located in a State Forest that adjoins agricultural land used for cattle and sheep grazing, vineyards and tree plantations. It is also a renown holiday region.

Greenbushes is The Longest Continuous Mining Area in Western Australia
The Greenbushes Mine itself has been operating for more than 25 years and the surrounding area is regarded as being the longest continuously mined area in Western Australia that started with mining for tin in 1888. Tantalum in the 1940's and the Greenbushes lithium mine commencing in 1983. The first lithium processing plant being built there in 1985. The plant has been upgraded and expanded several times since its commissioning to allow it to produce a wide range of lithium based concentrates.

Greenbushes Mine is Carried out in Conventional Style
Lithium ore, otherwise known as spodumene, is mined at Greenbushes from un-weathered deposits of pegmatite exposed in open pits once the top soil and overburden is removed. Mining at Greenbushes it carried out in the traditional fashion of open pit mining in that the hard rock is first drilled before blasting. The broken ore is then graded and stockpiled depending on its mineralogical characteristics. Waste material is stored separately so it can be reused at a later date for rehabilitation purposes.

Mine has two Processing Plants on Site
There are two processing plants at the Greenbushes mine site. One is used to produce chemical grade lithium concentrate and the other technical grade concentrate. Ore is fed into the processing plants that detects the lithium mineral by means of gravity, heavy media, flotation and finally a magnetic procedure. This processes a wide range lithium concentrates that, when complete, is either bagged, or made ready for bulk shipment to worldwide customers. Different operations are carried out during the processing to produce the various lithium concentrates that different customers require.

New Processing Plant Built at Kwinana
Greenbushes operators are currently responding to global demand for an additional secure supply of lithium carbonate. This has required the construction of a minerals conversion plant at the Kwinana Industrial Area to convert lithium minerals to lithium carbonate. The resulting product is then placed into shipping containers and exported out of Fremantle to satisfy the global market, particularly those in Europe, USA, South Korea and Japan. The Kwinana Industrial Area was chosen as it is close to water, has a reagent supply, liberal energy supply, an abundance of skilled labour and is close to the Fremantle port.
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