Pilbara Minerals批准19亿澳元P2000最终投资决定，Pilgangoora产能将翻倍至200万吨/年，2029年才出产品

CANBERRA -- Australian miner PLS on Thursday announced a step toward achieving its ambition of becoming one of the world's largest pure-play lithium miners, with a plan for expansion as it bets on future demand despite recent drops in the price of the key battery metal.
The company announced a final investment decision worth 1.9 billion Australian dollars ($1.32 billion) on plans to double capacity at its Pilgangoora operation in Western Australia to 2 million metric tons per year with a new processing plant.
Chief executive Dale Henderson called the move "transformative."
The project, expected to deliver its first lithium-containing spodumene concentrate in 2029, is among several expansions announced by Australian lithium miners this year, following similar announcements by Liontown in September and Mineral Resources in May.
The industry is recovering from a downturn that saw spodumene prices plummet to less than $600 per ton last year. Prices rallied to peak near $3,000 per ton in May but have weakened since then. After briefly stabilizing around $2,000 in August and September, prices have fallen further in recent weeks, hitting $1,466 on Thursday, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
The base case for PLS's expansion, dubbed P2000, assumes a long-term price of $1,620 per ton and estimates the project's net present value at AU$2.7 billion and its incremental internal rate of return at 29.5%.
Henderson acknowledged the recent "softness and volatility," but said such "shorter-term conditions" were driven by sentiment, with electrification and growing deployment of battery storage still providing solid growth.
"Demand is compounding very strongly, supply isn't," he told analysts on a briefing call. "And that has to set up a mismatch."
He said that despite the volatility, the company had a deep enough balance sheet to pursue the expansion, which will be funded with existing cash reserves, which sat at AU$2.3 billion as of June 30, and cash flow from operations. He said the company could defer capital deployment should conditions worsen.
"But we're not looking to do any of that, of course," he told analysts. "We're setting ourselves up to execute, deliver and build this larger production base to enjoy future price improvement."