PLS Group has approved the P2000 expansion at its Pilgangoora lithium operation in the Pilbara, a A$1.9 billion final investment decision that takes plant capacity from about 1.28 million tonnes a year to 2.0 million tonnes, with first production due in 2029. A new plant, named Jimmagunya by Nyamal elders, will be built beside the existing Pilgan plant, about 140 kilometres from Port Hedland.
The investment case is cost, not price. PLS says ore sorting at the expanded rate cuts unit costs by about $210 a tonne, and the company kept its FY26 guidance unchanged, with A$35 million to A$40 million of pre-FID spending already inside the FY27 budget. Approving the sector’s biggest expansion into a weak lithium tape, the lithium and battery basket fell 1.22 percent in the latest session and 5.0 percent on the week in the site tables, is a statement that Pilgangoora intends to win the downturn on the cost curve.
The decision also lands on a day when the read across Australian lithium was relief rather than capitulation: ASX lithium names opened higher on Friday after a sector selloff earlier in the week that Kalkine linked to the EU move to cap Chinese hybrid imports.