Albemarle moves ahead with Kemerton plant expansion

The world’s largest lithium producer Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) has awarded a A$200 million ($178.4 million) contract to engineering company Monadelphous Group (ASX: MND), as part of the miner’s plans to double lithium hydroxide output at its Kemerton plant in Western Australia.

The U.S.-based company unveiled in May plans to increase the facility’s production by 50,000 tonnes per year, with the aim of having Kemerton generate 100,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide per year at full capacity. That amount of material is enough to support the manufacturing of an estimated 2.4 million electric vehicles (EVs) a year, Albemarle said at the time.

The planned production hike includes building two additional processing trains at Kemerton (trains 3 and 4). 

The contract with Monadelphous includes front-end pyromet structural, mechanical, piping, electrical and instrumentation works associated with the two new lithium trains.

The new deal comes after the completion of trains 1 and 2 construction packages, and the recently inked long-term contracts for maintenance and sustaining capital projects at Kemerton.

Monadelphous Managing Director, Zoran Bebic, said this award, in addition to the award announced last week with Fortescue Metals Group for work at the Christmas Creek mine site, represents the first in a new wave of major construction projects to come to market. 

“We are extremely pleased to have secured these key construction opportunities, and look forward to continuing to deliver high quality solutions for customers, as well as supporting local communities through the provision of employment and supply opportunities,” Bebic said.

Monadelphous plans to start work under the new contract later this year with completion scheduled for the second half of 2025.

The material that will be processed into battery-grade lithium hydroxide at the Kemerton plant, under construction since 2019, comes from the Greenbushes mine. This open-pit operation is the world’s biggest hard-rock lithium mine, located about 250 km from Perth.