Skip to content
  • Products
    • Exploration
      • GIS on ArcGIS Pro
      • GIS on MapInfo
      • Modelling
      • Geophysical Visualisation
    • Geological Data
      • Core Logging
      • Sample Collection
      • Data Governance
      • SABLE
      • Mine Mapping
      • Face Mapping
      • Geotechnical Mapping
      • Photogrammetry
      • QA/QC & Analytics
      • Core Tracking
    • Resources & Reserves
      • Advanced Modelling & Evaluation
      • Modelling & Evaluation
      • Advanced Geostatistics
      • Stratigraphic Deposits – Minerals
      • Stratigraphic Deposits – Coal
      • Ore Control & Dilution
    • Underground Planning
      • Strategic & Detailed Design
      • Production Scheduling
      • Scenario Analysis
      • Drill & Blast
      • CAD/Survey
      • Ventilation Modelling
      • Cellular Automata Model
    • Open Pit Planning
      • Strategic Planning
      • Complex Schedule Optimisation
      • Strategic Analysis
      • Design & Scheduling – Minerals
      • Design & Scheduling – Coal
      • Drill & Blast
      • Surveying
    • Operations
      • Windows-Based LIMS
      • Web-Based LIMS
      • Short Interval Control
      • OP Drill & Blast
      • UG Drill & Blast
      • Fragmentation Measurement
      • Production Geology
      • Ventilation Modelling
      • Reticulation Design
      • Sensor-Based Predictive Maintenance
      • Production Planning & Reporting
      • Diesel Emissions Management
    • Supply Chain
      • Blending & Optimisation
      • Inventory & Logistics
      • Metallurgical Accounting
      • Commodity Trading
      • Reconciliation
  • Services
    • Training
    • Online Learning
    • Advisory Consulting
    • Specialised Implementations
  • Support
    • Portal & Downloads
    • Request Access To Support
  • Community & Resources
    • News
    • Newsletter
    • Events
    • User Forum
Datamine
  • Community & Resources
    • News
    • Newsletter
    • Webinars
    • Events
    • Customer Success Stories
    • LinkedIn User Forum
    • Vimeo
    • YouTube
  • About
  • Contact
    • Find Your Closest Office
    • Careers
  • EnglishEnglish
    • EnglishEnglish
    • EspañolEspañol
    • РусскийРусский
  • Search

Datamine and Snowden Advisory – Liontown Resources

Posted on December 11, 2021December 20, 2021 by Megan Scheepers

Datamine and Snowden Advisory

West Perth-based Liontown Resources has announced the results of the Definitive Feasibility Study for their Kathleen Valley Lithium Project in Western Australia. The project will initially start mining at a rate of 2.5 Mt/y, increasing to 4 Mt/y by 2029.  Over the life of mine a total of 83 Mt at 1.3% Li2O will be mined, producing over 500,000 t/y of spodumene concentrate (SC6). 

Snowden was responsible for the mine design, scheduling component of the study. The design and schedule includes about 4000 stopes, over 200 km of mine development and two open pits.  Chris Jones (Principal Consultant) completed the optimisation studies, MSO runs, mine design and mine schedules. He was assisted by Andre Racilan and Pedro Ladeira from Datamine. Allan Earl (Executive Consultant) was the study manager and is the Competent Person (JORC 2012) for the Kathleen Valley Ore Reserve. Our team was also supported by our group of Associates for aspects such as contractor costs, ventilation, pastefill testing and design, geotechnical and blasting studies.

The mine covers an area of about 2 km (north-south) and 1.5 km (east-west) and comprises:

  • Two small open pits which provide early mill feed and access to the underground declines
  • An area of flat lying, stacked pegmatite orebodies varying from 5 m to +30 m high. Longhole open stoping with paste fill, and room and pillar stoping will be used in this area.
  • An area of more steeply dipping pegmatites 10 to 40 m wide. Longhole open stoping will be used in this area.

The mine has a number of advantages including its very shallow depth (less than 400 m below surface), very high rock stengths, low seismic risk and the project’s close proximity to a major mining district.

Liontown had originally planned a big open-pit operation for Kathleen Valley. With Snowden’s advice  the design has changed to become a mostly underground operation to minimise surface disruption and protect important community cultural sites while enhancing the project’s ESG. At the signing of a native title agreement struck on Wednesday, Tjiwarl AC chairman Brett Lewishad said that the Tjiwarl had initially opposed Liontown’s proposed exploration plans for Kathleen Valley because the area was culturally important to the group but the two parties had agreed to work together for a mutually beneficial outcome.

Snowden’s work was important to this outcome as we  worked closely with Liontown to minimise impact on culturally significant landforms, and to significantly reduce the overall mine footprint impacted by open pits and waste dumps, while ensuring the project returned the best financial outcome possible. 

The underground approach developed by Snowden has allowed Liontown to develop a “net zero” trajectory with a climate strategy in place to targeting net zero emissions by 2034.  A large proportion of the mine waste will be returned underground as pastefill futher reducing the mine footprint.

Allan Earl
Snowden

CategoriesNewsPosted on December 11, 2021December 20, 2021

Share

Post navigation

Previous post:Datamine and Snowden Advisory
Next post:Datamine and Snowden Advisory

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Our Solutions

  • Exploration
  • Geological Data
  • Resources And Reserves
  • Underground Planning
  • Open Pit Planning
  • Operations
  • Supply Chain Management

Social

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

About Us

Support

Contact Us

  • Find your location
  • sales@dataminesoftware.com

Datamine is a world leading provider of the technology and the services required to seamlessly plan and manage mining operations.

Learn more Learn more

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2022 Datamine Website by Web3 Brisbane
  • Products
    ▾
    • Exploration
      ▾
      • GIS
      • Modelling
    • Geological Data
      ▾
      • Core Logging
      • Sample Collection
      • Data Governance
      • Mine Mapping
      • Geological Mapping
      • QA/QC & Analytics
      • Windows-Based LIMS
      • Web-Based LIMS
      • Core Tracking
    • Resources & Reserves
      ▾
      • Modelling & Evaluation
      • Advanced Geostatistics
      • Stratigraphic Deposits – Minerals
      • Stratigraphic Deposits – Coal
      • Ore Control & Dilution
    • Underground Planning
      ▾
      • Strategic & Detailed Design
      • Production Scheduling
      • Scenario Analysis
      • Drill & Blast
      • CAD/Survey
      • Ventilation Modelling
    • Open Pit Planning
      ▾
      • Strategic Planning
      • Strategic Analysis
      • Design & Scheduling – Minerals
      • Design & Scheduling – Coal
      • Drill & Blast
      • Surveying
    • Operations
      ▾
      • Short Interval Control
      • OP Drill & Blast
      • UG Drill & Blast
      • Fragmentation Measurement
      • Production Geology
      • Ventilation Modelling
      • Reticulation Design
      • Production Planning & Reporting
      • Diesel Emissions Management
    • Supply Chain
      ▾
      • Blending & Optimisation
      • Inventory & Logistics
      • Metallurgical Accounting
      • Commodity Trading
  • Services
    ▾
    • Training
    • Advisory Consulting
    • Specialised Implementations
  • Support
    ▾
    • Portal & Resources
    • Request Access To Support
  • Community & Resources
    ▾
    • News
    • Newsletter
    • Webinars
    • Events
    • Customer Success Stories
    • LinkedIn User Forum
    • Vimeo
    • YouTube
  • About
  • Contact
    ▾
    • Find Your Closest Office
    • Careers
  • EnglishEnglish
    ▾
    • EnglishEnglish
    • EspañolEspañol
    • РусскийРусский