Increased production and sales have generated a significant $783.7 million contribution towards a cash balance of $1375 billion for Pilbara Minerals in the September quarter.
The company lifted spodumene concentrate production and sales from the Pilgangoora project in Western Australia to take advantage of positive lithium raw material demand.
Production of 147,105 dry metric tonnes of concentrate was achieved, representing a 16 per cent increase over the June 2022 quarter, with the Ngungaju plant achieving nameplate capacity of 180-200,000 tonnes per annum.
The strong production performance reflects solid operating strategy and represents an annualised production rate of 588,000dmt of spodumene concentrate.
In response to increasing customer demand and strong lithium raw materials pricing, Pilbara Minerals has continued to adjust production by lowering its targeted product grade to optimise product yield, thereby maximising sales volumes to take advantage of current market pricing conditions.
Strong pricing was also achieved from three Battery Material Exchange (BMX) sale auctions, with one auction achieving a realised price of $US6988/dmt SC5.5 basis (FOB Port Hedland), which equates to $US7708/dmt on an SC6.0 equivalent basis (CIF China).
The P680 Project was also commenced, with bulk earthworks underway and long-lead item contracts awarded.