I have a solution that kills two birds with one stone.
LTR are short some $285 million for Capex to finish Kathleen Valley. Collie is transitioning from coal by closing our remaining power stations by 2029.
collie has a Just Transition Package from the state government of $662 million.
The below is copy and paste from the government website...
The Western Australian Government has been working in recent years to transition the Collie economy from its dependence on coal by investing to attract major projects and to bring new and emerging industries to town.This work has been implemented using the internationally-renowned Just Transition framework, which focuses on supporting workers, industries and communities in the shift from
carbon-intensive industries.With the announcement that the town’s remaining coal-fired power stations will be retired in a phased, managed approach in the years to 2029, the State Government has announced a new, $547.4 million Collie Transition Package to support future jobs in the region - bringing State Government investment in Collie to more than $662 million.
As a Collie resident who will be unemployed from 2029, I would beg our State Govt to ask LTR to build their Lithium Hydroxide plant in Collie. As LTR want to start construction in 2027 and commission in 2029 the timelines work out perfectly to save the future of our town and transition us from coal to green industry.
Collie is an industrial mining town already full of a ready made workforce of engineers, process operators, technicians, electricians and mechanical workers etc. Building the hydroxide plant here would leave KV as a mine to SC6 operation only. The savings cost to LTR would be immense as Collie is 2hrs south of Perth, not 1000km away in the desert.
collie is also 65km from Bunbury Port.
Of course the biggest concern would be the logistics of getting the Sc6 to a hydroxide plant in Collie, some 1000km I believe. But if the plant is 20 thousand tonne output requiring 140 thousand tonne SC6, then this is more than possible as Muja Power Station has recently just imported 100 thousand tonne of Coal in 2800 B double truck deliveries from Bunbury Port over an approx 2 month period. So an extra 40 thou tonne over a 12 month period wouldn't be a problem.
one more thing, Collie has a hospital, police station, several schools, shops, pubs, mining services businesses etc already and is a town of around 8000 people. We are surrounded by lakes, rivers and Jarrah forests.
This would make a great treechange for employees for an LTR Hydroxide plant instead of having to go fly in, fly out to the desert.
Also, if ALB do take LTR over, I am sure they will transport the SC6 from KV, straight through our town Collie, down to their Hydroxide plant in Kemerton.
So in a nutshell, we have the money, the time to plan, the workforce and the town going through a transition.
can someone tell Tim and Tony please
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