Greenbushes CGP3 lithium start-up: throughput and supply insights for mine planners
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on Australian Mining
30 Second Briefing
Lithium mining and processing has commenced at Chemical Grade Plant 3 (CGP3) at the Greenbushes operation in Western Australia, operated by Talison Lithium and jointly owned by IGO, Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia and Albemarle. CGP3 adds new chemical-grade concentrator capacity alongside the existing CGP1 and CGP2 trains, targeting spodumene feed from the world‑class Greenbushes orebody. The ramp‑up of CGP3 is integral to lifting total site throughput and stabilising supply to downstream lithium hydroxide refineries in Kwinana and overseas.
Technical Brief
- Commissioning involves staged ramp‑up of crushing, grinding and flotation circuits before achieving nameplate concentrate output.
- Additional tailings and water-handling capacity are required on site to accommodate CGP3’s process streams.
- Power demand for the concentrator expansion is being absorbed within the existing Greenbushes site electrical infrastructure.
- For other Australian hard‑rock lithium projects, Greenbushes’ multi‑train concentrator model is becoming a reference development template.
Our Take
IGO’s move at Greenbushes comes shortly after our coverage of its Kwinana lithium hydroxide refinery underperformance, signalling a strategic tilt back towards upstream spodumene production in Western Australia rather than complex downstream processing.
Among recent lithium pieces in our database, Greenbushes stands out as one of the few mature Australian assets undergoing incremental plant expansions (such as Chemical Grade Plant 3) rather than greenfield development, which typically offers lower execution risk but less flexibility on flowsheet design.
With the International Energy Forum warning in our recent coverage that critical minerals trade is tightening, additional lithium output from established hubs like Greenbushes in Australia is likely to be favoured by offtakers seeking secure, low-jurisdiction-risk supply over emerging jurisdictions.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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