I figured I'd start a thread here to discuss ongoing operational improvements.
The updated MRE released today had a particular figure that really stood ou
t. Initially it didn't look great. In fact, to me it stood out as very concerning. Then I put it into context of what PLS have achieved in efforts to continuously upgrade the capabilities at Pilgangoora and what P1000 means for the future.
I'll drop the highlighted point here and then discuss.
The stockpile metrics look troubling. After all, PLS has been steadily growing it's stockpiles by mining significantly more than they process at excellent mining grades the past 12+ months (1.4/1.5%). There I was thinking as of March 31st 2025, PLS had ~6.2Mt of decent grade stockpiled... a massive amount. Today PLS shows 8 Mt at 0.95%. 7Mt of that has an Fe2O3 level of 3.39%
Did it mean PLS had been high grading the plant to an extreme degree? How is there that much Iron (Fe2O3) in the pile? Why is the stockpile grade so low? PLS dropped 56Mt averaging 0.7% from the MRE but included this high iron pile?
The answers are fascinating and IMO come down to the ongoing improvements the plant has seen. The most important of which is IMO the ore sorter. It is the world's largest lithium ore sorter and largest of it's kind in the Southern Hemisphere. It was commissioned last August.
https://pilbaraminerals.com.au/news-stories/pilbara-minerals-commissions-the-worlds-largest-lithium-ore-sorter/
The second important piece of the puzzle was the WHIMS (magnetic separation) that Dale Henderson discussed in the March 2025 earnings call.
https://www.roic.ai/quote/PILBF/transcripts
https://www.agilitus.com/project/p1000-expansion-project-whims-detailed-design/
I'll get into the nitty gritty numbers for a bit, if you'll indulge me.
As of the end of June 2024, PLS had ~5.2Mt at a combined average grade of ~1.24%. As per the annual report:
Since then we've seen to March 31st 2025 an additional 1Mt+ added to the stockpile. Calculating the plant feed grade using calculations derived from metrics in the quarterly, I saw, financial year to date of ~1.45%. That matches closely to what was claimed as mined and ruled out PLS high grading in the extreme.
Using logical assumptions from the above, the ~1Mt stockpiled in the 9 months could have averaged around 1.45% (keeping in mind dilution).
That would mean the total ~6.2Mt stockpile I had been tracking averages ~1.27%.
That 6.2Mt at 1.27% is a far cry from the ~8Mt @ 0.95% with an Fe2O3 level of 3.03%. So that left the question of how 56Mt @ 0.7% could be removed from the MRE in situ, while ~1.8Mt of what must be gangue heavy material is counted and considered economic while being of low enough grade to drag down that 6.2Mt.
The answer is 2 fold. The ~1.8Mt must have very significant proportions of host rock (likely source of the Iron given the MRE level of just 0.54% Fe2O3 in situ) that the ore sorter can deal with - arguably the best ore sorter in the Lithium game globally. Any residual iron can be dealt with by the increased magnetic separation capabilities installed as part of P1000.
What this small exploration post of the PLS stockpile in the MRE has demonstrated is the confidence in and capabilities of a globally unrivalled ore sorter in the Lithium hardrock game and ongoing improvements like the new WHIMS that is capable of working through material that would previously been considered waste at PLS. Otherwise why acknowledge the gangue heavy elements of the stockpile while removing 56Mt averaging 0.7% if they do not have strong conviction that it can be handled economically.
That has big implications going forward as some waste becomes usable ore. In doing so, strip ratios should be lower than previously anticipated. As a result, more Lithia is recovered from the resource body and the plant runs more smoothly on cleaner ore.
Some act as though the Pilgan plant is old and stuck in time. That simply is not the case as it has continued to evolve.
The P1000 works appear to be a game changer for PLS and I expect that to be reflected in published performance going forward. The ore sorter is a huge deal and the new WHIMS reinforces the plant's magnetic separation capabilities.
To be clear, my focus on the stockpile in this post has been to show how the plant improvements have been able to make gangue / waste economic and that will not just be limited to that scope. It will have a major positive impact on the mining and processing plans of PLS.
P1000 was not just an increase in capacity for the Pilgan plant. It was a step change in capability, efficiency, and performance.
GLTAH and all of the above is IMO
(20min delay)