The Finnis Lithium Project is a

lithium mine Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard temperature and pressure, standard conditions, it ...

being developed near Darwin,

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The project is being developed by Core Lithium. The

ore body Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic viab ...

was discovered in 2016, feasibility work was done 2018–2020 with a firm investment decision made in September 2021. Commercial production is expected to commence in late 2022.

Geological setup

The mine encompasses five ore deposits: specifically "Grants, Carlton, Sandras, Hang Gong SW, and BP33. The project area is made up of of

leases A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

covering the Bynoe

pegmatite A pegmatite is an igneous rock showing a very coarse texture, with large interlocking crystals usually greater in size than and sometimes greater than . Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, having a similar silicic com ...

field (BPF) and comprising several pegmatites near Darwin. The "ore bodies of the Finniss lithium project are characterised as

lithium Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid el ...

cesium Caesium (IUPAC spelling) (or cesium in American English) is a chemical element with the symbol Cs and atomic number 55. It is a soft, silvery-golden alkali metal with a melting point of , which makes it one of only five elemental metals that ar ...

tantalum Tantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as ''tantalium'', it is named after Tantalus, a villain in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a very hard, ductile, lustrous, blue-gray transition metal that is ...

(LCT) pegmatite deposits that are hosted within the Burrell Creek metasedimentary rock formation. The pegmatites at the deposits comprise lithium-bearing

spodumene Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium inosilicate, Li Al( Si O3)2, and is a source of lithium. It occurs as colorless to yellowish, purplish, or lilac kunzite (see below), yellowish-green or emerald-green hiddenite, pri ...

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

albite Albite is a plagioclase feldspar mineral. It is the sodium endmember of the plagioclase solid solution series. It represents a plagioclase with less than 10% anorthite content. The pure albite endmember has the formula . It is a tectosilicate. I ...

microcline Microcline (KAlSi3O8) is an important igneous rock-forming tectosilicate mineral. It is a potassium-rich alkali feldspar. Microcline typically contains minor amounts of sodium. It is common in granite and pegmatites. Microcline forms during slow ...

as well as

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

" with a consistent lithium content across the ore body.

Description

Core Lithium is developing the project,CORE Lithium : Finnis Lithium
retrieved 13 October 2022 having completed a pre-feasibility study (PFS) in June 2018 and a definitive feasibility study (DFS) in April 2019. Revisions to the feasibility study were completed in 2020 to incorporate underground mining methods in the mining plan. A revised DFS was completed in July 2021 outlining a project that will occur in multiple stages. The first stage will involve open-pit mining near Grants and Hang Gong, as well as underground mining at the Grants, BP33, and Carlton prospects. The Australian JORC 2012 compliance process estimated 3.45 million tonnes (Mt) of mineral resource at 1.4 percent

lithium oxide Lithium oxide ( O) or lithia is an inorganic chemical compound. It is a white solid. Although not specifically important, many materials are assessed on the basis of their Li2O content. For example, the Li2O content of the principal lithium miner ...

. Major Project Status (MPS) was granted by the

Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

in March 2021, recognizing the strategic significance of the project. Battery-grade

lithium hydroxide Lithium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula LiOH. It can exist as anhydrous or hydrated, and both forms are white hygroscopic solids. They are soluble in water and slightly soluble in ethanol. Both are available commercially. While ...

was produced as part of the test works on

mineral concentrate sample from the project in April 2021. Construction began in 2021 and full operational mining commenced in October 2022, with initial export shipments expected in early 2023. Development of the mine is an $89 million project. 16 million tonnes of ore are expected to be mined over the 12-year lifespan of the project. Most lithium concentrate is expected to be exported overseas.

Production and sales

Tesla, Inc. Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles (electric cars and trucks), battery energy storage from home to grid- ...

has contracted for 110,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate over four years from the Core Lithium and the Finniss lithium mine.

References

Lithium mines in Australia Lithium minerals {{Mining-stub