Greenbushes mine rehabilitation provision more than doubles while net profit slumps 89 per cent to $708.5m

The future cost to rehabilitate Greenbushes is rising exponentially and the fabled lithium mine’s profitability has fallen dramatically, despite its annual bottom line sticking above $700 million. Australia’s largest and most lucrative lithium mining operation delivered $708.5m of net profit for its three owners during 2024, according to fresh financial accounts lodged with the corporate regulator. The profit pales in comparison to its record of $6.29 billion for 2023 when spodumene concentrate prices spent most of that year higher than $US3000 per tonne. The lithium product’s prevailing price averaged $US920/t across 2024, according to Bloomberg data, and it currently fetches roughly $US850/t. Sales revenue from Greenbushes slumped from $9.87b to $1.97b, while the cash pile generated by the mine rose from $286.3m to $389.2m. Greenbushes — located in WA’s South West — is owned 25 per cent by Perth’s IGO, 26 per cent by China’s Tianqi and 49 per cent by the United States’ Albemarle. The ownership trio were paid a combined dividend of almost $950m last year, yet all three companies made a loss for 2024 after feeling the pinch of a depressed lithium market combined with floundering downstream processing operations. A big chunk of the spodumene concentrate produced at Greenbushes gets fed into two lithium hydroxide plants — one owned jointly by IGO and Tianqi in Kwinana, and another owned by Albemarle near Bunbury. Both plants have been plagued by severe mechanical issues and failed to produce anywhere near their nameplate capacities. Greenbushes was originally a tin mine in the 1800s before transforming into a tantalum mine, then ultimately a lithium mine in the 1980s. After decades of digging up the battery commodity the clean-up bill for Greenbushes is beginning to increase rapidly. Mine rehabilitation provisions rose from $39.7m to $54.1m during 2023, before jumping to $126.5m by the end of last year. Greenbushes still has at least 19 years of mine life left, according to its 2024 financials, but mine owners are generally required by government authorities to progressively rehabilitate mined land. Greenbushes is the only one of nine lithium mines in Australia that can deliver meaningful sums of cash at current prices. Citi analysis last year pegged the mine as still being profitable even if spodumene concentrate prices fell to $US750/t. Despite the lithium market carnage, a third chemical grade plant is currently being built at Greenbushes with a price tag of around $160m. Construction of the chemical plant, which is due to be completed by July, has been marred by a number of safety breaches. Electricians briefly downed tools at the site earlier this month after fearing they were at risk of electrocution.