While others are drilling, planning or at various stages of...

While others are drilling, planning or at various stages of extraction in WA, Albermarle and Tianqi own the Greenbushes (Talison) mine and have many years of experience in exporting spod. They are also well underway not just to export but convert to quality Li hydroxide. The Chinese and American owners currently have the world's biggest lithium mine and Tianqi is in construction of a $840M lithium hydroxide plant at Kwinana to process spod from Talison. Stage 2 completion is set for 2019 and nameplate claims 48,000 tonnes p/a of high purity, batterygrade lithium hydroxide.

This would make the Kwinana plant the world’s largest lithium hydroxide producer. The Talison mine is a JV although Albermarle and Tianqi are fierce production competitors. Albermarle are also at planning stage with a plant 2hrs south of Tianqi in WA, heralding double the Tianqi production rates. Tianqi is not talk it is happening.

This is not to talk down PLS as I'm an investor but mining (and production) is one thing, the price of end processed commodity is quite another. The processing chain from supply of LiAl(SiO3) to appearing the battery compartment of an appliance is long and complex. Let's not get ahead ahead of ourselves, but having said that PLS as a hard rock supply source is very promising.