AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Highlights:
- A fire incident occurred at the Nova operations of IGO on 3 December 2022.
- The diesel engine room got damaged, rest of the infrastructure was safe, IGO said.
- The commercial production was declared at the Kwinana Lithium Hydroxide Refinery.
ASX listed materials company IGO Limited (ASX:IGO) on Monday (5 December 2022) shared that a fire incident took place at its Nova operation over the weekend. The exploration company also informed the market about the commercial production from Kwinana Lithium Hydroxide Refinery. Kwinana Refinery is a lithium asset under the joint venture with Tianqi Lithium Corporation.
Following these two updates, the shares of IGO have been buzzing in the red territory since morning. At 12:45 PM AEDT, the shares were spotted trading 2.11% lower at AU$16.00 per share with a market capitalisation of AU$12.37 billion. In the last five trading sessions, the share price has increased by 10.35%, and in six months, it has zoomed up by 34.71%. The yearly gain is 59.10%, and in five years, the share price has surged by eye popping 303.79%.
Details of the fire incident at Nova operation
IGO said that a fire damaged the Nova power station during the early hours of 3 December 2022. It is operated by IGO’s power partner, Zenith Energy Pty Ltd.
The fire was limited to the diesel engine room, which was damaged extensively. No damage was reported to other infrastructure like the switch room, control room, solar PV, power distribution network and battery energy storage.
An emergency team addressed the situation immediately and was able to extinguish the fire. According to ASX filing, no injuries were recorded, and all personnel were safe.
Following the incident, currently, all operations at Nova are suspended. Reportedly, the Nova Business Continuity Plan has begun. IGO and Zenith are working to re-establish the power supply to the operation.
The company expects mining operations to begin in two weeks. Restoration to the power supply to fully operate the facility is anticipated to take around four weeks.
About the commercial production from the Kwinana Refinery
Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia (TLEA) is a joint venture between Tianqi Lithium Corporation (51%) and IGO (49%). TLEA have 100% ownership of Kwinana Refinery.
According to ASX announcement, TLEA has declared commercial production from Train 1 of the Kwinana Refinery.
IGO said,
