Liontown Resources has announced a historic moment for Australian lithium by officially commencing underground production at its Kathleen Valley operations in Western Australia.
The first blast occurred at the Mt Mann orebody, marking the first step in the mine’s transition from open pit to underground mining that will continue across the 2025–26 financial year (FY26).
As Australia’s first underground lithium mine, Liontown expects Kathleen Valley to offer distinct advantages over traditional open pit operations, including cleaner ore extraction by reducing ore dilution from waste contamination, supporting higher lithia recoveries and improved ore fragmentation for optimised throughput.
Liontown managing director and chief executive officer Tony Ottaviano said the company spent the March quarter undertaking underground ore trials in advance of first stoping, to understand the optimal plant performance settings.
The first firing extracted 1500 tonnes (t) of ore, part of an initial stope designed to extract 12,000t of ore, equivalent to two days of plant production.
According to Ottaviano, the results reinforced the company’s confidence in transitioning to full underground operations.
“The successful commencement of underground stoping at our Kathleen Valley Lithium Operation on schedule is a proud milestone for Liontown,” he said.
“This achievement was made possible by advanced planning, the dedication of our team and the support from our mining partner, Byrnecut, ensuring the first stope blast at Mt Mann proceeded as planned.”
Looking ahead, Liontown will continue the mine’s development to advance the decline, opening additional working areas and ramping up the underground operations progressively.
Liontown will target high-margin ore in order to maximise value with the mill expected to be supplied solely by underground volumes by the end of FY26.
