PLS Group (ASX:PLS) kicked off the company presentations at the annual Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, this morning (5 August), revealing the P2000 expansion footprint.
Speaking at the Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum, PLS Group CEO Dale Henderson says the company has been focused on the team getting better at a time when the lithium focus needs to transition from “resources to reliable supply”.
This motto is exactly what the P2000 Expansion Project sets out to do.
Located within its Pilgangoora Operation in Western Australia, the P2000 Expansion Project is a brownfield pathway that has the potential to double production capacity.
The expansion project builds on the existing Pilgan Plant, with a potential to produce 2 million tonnes per annum.
The expansion is subject to board approval and a positive final investment decision (FID). PLS Group is currently progressing a Feasibility Study and is already approved for pre-FID capital.
Pre-FID capital expenditure is marked at $175 million to support delivery of an FID in the December quarter 2026.
Should the PLS board sanction the project, the P2000 expansion is expected to target first ore in mid-2029.
“The team has gone ahead of steam, and we’re only just getting started,” Henderson told the Diggers and Dealers auditorium this morning.
“We’re already a scale producer, but what’s really exciting is where we’re heading. If the P2000 was built today, we would have the largest lithium operation.”
With the P2000 Project adjoining PLS Group’s existing lithium reach in Australia, Brazil, and South Korea, the company’s growth projects are looking to support the lithium industry evolution.
As reported by Mining.com.au in April, PLS Group received up to $38.1 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s Advancing Renewables Program (ARP). The funding covers project operating costs for the Mid-Stream Demonstration Plant Project, also within the Pilgangoora Operation.
At the demonstration plant, PLS Group is focused on testing value creation from converting spodumene concentrate into lithium phosphate at the mine site before exportation.
The demonstration plant is wholly owned by PLS Group and is expected to produce around 3,000 tonnes per annum of lithium phosphate.
The company expects to produce its first lithium phosphate product at the plant in the September quarter 2026.
PLS Group is a lithium producer with a diversified portfolio of assets and strategic partnerships worldwide, focused on rapidly growing the battery materials sector.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Diggers & Dealers
