Liontown Resources has awarded the spodumene and direct shipping ore (DSO) haulage services contract for its Kathleen Valley lithium project to Qube Holdings.
Qube is Australia’s largest integrated logistics solutions provider and was awarded the five year contract from Liontown after undergoing an extensive tender process.
The Kathleen Valley lithium project is located 680km north east of Perth in Western Australia. It is a Tier 1 battery metals asset and is accessible by sealed highways that connects with mineral exporting ports at Geraldton.
The contract awarded to Qube involves loading spodumene concentrate at Kathleen Valley, haulage of the concentrate to the Port of Geraldton, the storage and stockpile management at the Port of Geraldton, and the outload to port infrastructure for shipment to Liontown customers.
Qube will utilise ultra-Quad road-trains to truck all concentrate from Kathleen Valley to the dedicated storage facility at the Port of Geraldton for the duration of the contract. Qube’s 24/7 fleet monitoring centre in Perth will manage safety and environmental outcomes.
The contract is valued at $175 million and is due to commence in the middle of 2024. It is conditional upon Qube finalising arrangements to secure the storage facility at the Port of Geraldton.
“We look forward to working with Qube on the haulage and storage of our spodumene concentrate and DSO material from Kathleen Valley, as well as benefiting from their expertise in the industry, especially with their extensive experience managing spodumene for others,” Liontown managing director Tony Ottaviano said.
“This contract coupled with the underground mining services (due this quarter) represents one of the last few outstanding contracts to be awarded as we progress Kathleen Valley towards first production mid-2024.”