Hi evanator
- First I hoped yes, and then I went back to my original negative perspective on PLS - given the overall market and the fact those islands can be schizophrenic - and Saragian’s recent chart over there, and decided ‘no’ … which caused a bit of a kerfuffle in the cupboards so to speak because I really ought to be handcuffed sometimes.….
…..And the week end will offer a chance for less reactive/confirmation biased study because I do not expect any of the conclusions I ricocheted through were ‘right’ - not on any level.
But thank you for illustrating how magnificently my friendship with that blessed Navigator can work on a ‘fall guy’ basis - (and yes I am the 'guy’ that falls - thankfully sometimes into the arms of one of the best technical analysts outside a Renaissance fund computer ).
And back to IGO where I see you have to date resisted the urge to invest ;
Below is a story published in Argus last Friday which reinforces the calibre of the very solid lithia ground on which IGO is now based despite the current swing share price-wise to the negative.
The value of this ground being Australia (as with advanced projects such as PLS, WES’ Covalent operation and MIN) has been recently highlighted over at AVZ where - on the theme of kerfuffles - a major, major one is currently being played out.
Plus - in regards- the impurities that have so far delayed the news of battery grade production at Kwinana, I note that in the Q&A session after the quarterly results Peter Bradford said the hydroxide product was the equivalent of 97% ready when asked by Matt Greene of Credit Suisse what was causing the delays;
…..“ I would describe it as we're like 97% there, and we know that we can make battery grade product because we are making it.
And the reality is we are getting some marginal contamination in the drying and packaging stage.
So we're just working through some mechanical changes there to stop that contamination.
And then we would expect to be able to bag battery grade products as well as make it at the crystallizer.
And one thing to appreciate here is the very high levels of purity.
And with contamination, for instance, from the likes of magnetics, we're talking about a quality benchmark which is 100 parts per billion.
So the level of contamination that's required to kick that over to the wrong side of the performance metric is not very much.
Matt Dusci
Yes. And we know that we produce that factory grade in the circuit prior to the drying circuit.
So -- and that's where the introduction of iron is coming into the circuit.”
That was back on May 1, almost a fortnight ago, and I do not expect they have been messing round since then
……which makes me wonder how low the price will fall if ‘the biscuit’ continues to crumble.
Anyway here’s that Greenbushes expansion story;
cheers 
https://www.argusmedia .com/en/news/2328828-australias-greenbushes-mine-expands-lithium-capacity
Australia's Greenbushes mine expands lithium capacity
Published date: 06 May 2022
Australia's Greenbushes lithium mine, owned by US-based Albemarle and a joint venture between Australian battery materials firm IGO and China's Tianqi Lithium, is significantly expanding its spodumene concentrate production capacity to meet rising demand from the global battery materials supply chain.
The Greenbushes mining and processing operation in Western Australia has an existing production capacity of 1.27mn t/yr through two technical-grade plants and one chemical-grade plant, placing it significantly ahead of the country's other major spodumene producers.
Greenbushes is implementing two projects that will add around 800,000 t/yr to its output by 2025.
These projects include a tailings retreatment initiative, which is being ramped up to produce 280,000 t/yr over six years, and a 520,000 t/yr chemical-grade plant.
First production from the tailings plant had occurred in February, while the chemical-grade plant is expected to be commissioned in 2025 with an already-approved construction decision.
Greenbushes' owners are also considering the development of a fourth chemical-grade plant to add a further 500,000 t/yr of output, raising total potential capacity to around 2.5mn t/yr.
The plant commissioning is anticipated for 2027, according to IGO.
The firm has an indirect 24.9pc stake in Greenbushes.
Greenbushes' expansion is in line with medium- and longer-term supply deficits anticipated in the global lithium supply chain, IGO said during a presentation at a conference in Sydney.
It cited research indicating a potential deficit of 1.2mn t/yr of lithium carbonate equivalent by 2030.
Greenbushes, with a remaining mine life of around 24 years, is the world's lowest-cost and highest-grade hard rock lithium mine, and has been operational since 1983.
Some of its current output is supplying feedstock to Albemarle's new lithium hydroxide plant that is being ramped up at Kemerton, southwest of Perth, and to Tianqi/IGO's 24,000 t/yr Kwinana lithium hydroxide plant, which is in trial production.
By Angus Macmillan
(20min delay)