Due to strong investor demand, Altura Mining is set to raise additional funds for its lithium project at Pilgangoora in the Pilbara, Western Australia.
The company has increased its share purchase plan (SPP) from $5 million to $10 million.
Altura made its maiden spodumene concentrate shipment of 5000 tonnes in October last year from Port Hedland, around 120 kilometres from Altura’s plant, and has since concentrated on increasing its nameplate production.
The Pilgangoora project is nearing its capacity target of 220,000 tonnes of lithium per year for supply to the electric vehicle (EV) and static storage battery markets.
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This month, the company has achieved daily averages of 612 tonnes, or about 95 per cent of capacity. Altura has plans to progress towards a stage two expansion to double capacity to 440,000 tonnes a year in the first half of 2020.
“We are delighted with the response from investors and rather than have to scale back shareholders who are keen to support us, the board has decided to increase the capacity of the SPP to satisfy demand,” Altura managing director James Brown said.
The SPP is scheduled to close on March 15.