Customer Story
PLS’ Pilgangoora P1000 establishes TOMRA ore sorting as a proven methodology for large-scale lithium operations
Building on several years of continuous operation, with the P1000 expansion, sensor-based sorting at PLS' Pilgangoora Operation in Western Australia has moved beyond project milestone status to become a fully embedded part of day-to-day hard rock lithium processing – demonstrating reliability, feed consistency and long-term resource flexibility at industrial scale.
Large-scale hard rock lithium operations are facing increasing pressure to balance throughput, operational stability and resource efficiency as projects continue to expand and ore bodies become more complex.
At PLS’ Pilgangoora Operation in Western Australia, the P1000 expansion marks an important step in this evolution. Expanding on the earlier P680 installation project, the operation has demonstrated how large-scale sensor-based ore sorting can move beyond being viewed as an emerging technology to become an integral part of day-to-day lithium processing.
Rather than functioning as a stand-alone optimisation layer, sorting at Pilgangoora now forms part of the site’s core processing strategy, supporting more predictable downstream performance and improved management of geological variability across the operation.
With several years of operational experience behind it, Pilgangoora now provides a clear industrial reference point for the role of ore sorting in modern lithium flowsheets. The project demonstrates that, when designed at the right scale and integrated into the processing circuit from the outset, sorting is no longer a pilot concept or niche application, but a proven methodology for large-scale lithium operations.
"There's a clear difference between something that works in principle and something that operators trust implicitly," says Gavin Rech, Area Sales and Technical Manager at TOMRA Mining. "At Pilgangoora, sorting has crossed that line. It has moved beyond trial status, not because of a single performance metric, but because of repetition and proven performance."
At PLS’ Pilgangoora Operation in Western Australia, the P1000 expansion marks an important step in this evolution. Expanding on the earlier P680 installation project, the operation has demonstrated how large-scale sensor-based ore sorting can move beyond being viewed as an emerging technology to become an integral part of day-to-day lithium processing.
Rather than functioning as a stand-alone optimisation layer, sorting at Pilgangoora now forms part of the site’s core processing strategy, supporting more predictable downstream performance and improved management of geological variability across the operation.
With several years of operational experience behind it, Pilgangoora now provides a clear industrial reference point for the role of ore sorting in modern lithium flowsheets. The project demonstrates that, when designed at the right scale and integrated into the processing circuit from the outset, sorting is no longer a pilot concept or niche application, but a proven methodology for large-scale lithium operations.
"There's a clear difference between something that works in principle and something that operators trust implicitly," says Gavin Rech, Area Sales and Technical Manager at TOMRA Mining. "At Pilgangoora, sorting has crossed that line. It has moved beyond trial status, not because of a single performance metric, but because of repetition and proven performance."
Today, the installation represents the world’s largest lithium ore sorting operations, with a sorting capacity exceeding 1,000 tonnes per hour, reinforcing the growing role of sensor-based sorting in large-scale hard rock lithium processing.
From expansion project to operational benchmark
The P1000 expansion represented more than an increase in plant capacity at Pilgangoora. It marked a structural shift in the flowsheet, integrating sensor based ore sorting as a core processing step rather than a supplementary technology. Since first ore, sorting has transitioned from a project milestone into a stable, routine component of operations, underpinning the site’s production model.“At Pilgangoora, this project has been the next phase of our operational growth,” says Chris Luke, Head of Operations at PLS. “It has allowed us to increase our production rate to one million tonnes per annum. More importantly, it has allowed us to unlock the full potential of the ore body.”
Today, the installation represents the world’s largest lithium ore sorting operations, with a sorting capacity exceeding 1,000 tonnes per hour, reinforcing the growing role of sensor-based sorting in large-scale hard rock lithium processing.
Operating one of the world’s largest hard-rock lithium mines, Pilgangoora has demonstrated that sensor-based sorting can deliver sustained reliability under continuous, high-throughput conditions. The TOMRA sorting circuit operates as a primary process step, meeting availability expectations across varying ore domains.
“The scale of what is being delivered is significant,” adds Chris Luke. “We operate the largest lithium ore sorters in the world… This scale gives us robustness and the confidence in our operating model.”
This reliability has been critical in positioning sorting as a viable industrial-scale solution rather than an experimental or niche application — and reflects a broader evolution in the lithium sector, where sorting is increasingly viewed not as an optimisation layer, but as an integral part of modern hard rock processing.
Managing geological variability through more predictable feed quality
Managing geological variability remains one of the major operational challenges in hard rock lithium processing, directly affecting feed behaviour, plant stability and downstream recovery performance. At Pilgangoora, large-scale ore sorting has changed how this variability is managed within the processing circuit. By removing barren and contaminant material before the ore reaches downstream processing stages, the sorting installation helps deliver a cleaner and more predictable feed to the wet plant.“From a metallurgical perspective, the integration of ore sorting into the crushing and sorting plant has fundamentally changed how the crushing plant operates,” explains Pierre Bille, Processing Technical Service Superintendent at PLS. “By removing waste and contamination early, the sorters deliver far more consistent and predictable feeds into the wet plant downstream.”
Reducing the amount of barren material entering downstream processing helps avoid unnecessary consumption of energy, water and reagents, supporting both operational efficiency and broader sustainability objectives.
Expanding resource flexibility through contact ore processing
One of the most significant long-term impacts of ore sorting at Pilgangoora has been the increased confidence in processing contact ore. Material previously considered challenging or marginal can now be incorporated into the operation's processing strategy with greater confidence, effectively expanding the usable resource base.“At a large-scale operation like this, that ore variability, and removing the inconsistency, allows us to hit targets, hit recovery, and maintain product to the correct specification for our customers,” says Tim Johns, Plant Metallurgist at PLS. “Consistency is key to delivering high product and operational excellence.”
Beyond the immediate processing benefits, this flexibility has important long-term implications for mine planning. Material that may previously have required blending, stockpiling or selective treatment can now be incorporated into the flowsheet with greater operational confidence – opening up options that provide greater long-term value than any single short-term efficiency gains.
In my experience, the biggest contributor to the success of this project is the level of Collaboration between TOMRA and PLS
Data-driven confidence in a volatile market
In a lithium market increasingly shaped by volatility and customer scrutiny, consistency has become a strategic advantage. The data generated by the sorting circuit provides visibility into what is actually happening at the front end of the plant. Feed characteristics, rejection behaviour and consistency trends all become measurable rather than inferred.That information feeds into operational decisions, blending strategies and longer-term planning. Downstream, consistency in concentrate quality becomes a commercial advantage. Sorting influences not just tonnes but confidence – internally and with customers – which becomes increasingly important as markets tighten.
Embedded partnership driving long-term performance
A key factor behind the sustained performance of the sorting installation has been the close operational collaboration between TOMRA and PLS. Robust and dedicated on-site support, combined with remote connectivity through TOMRA's global network, has allowed issues to be addressed before they become disruptions and enabled continuous optimisation as the circuit moved from commissioning into steady-state operations.TOMRA’s involvement at Pilgangoora began with extensive test work and ore characterisation studies conducted in 2017, supporting the long-term integration of sorting into the operation’s evolving processing strategy. As the sorting circuit moved into continuous industrial operation, ongoing technical support and real-time optimisation became important elements in maintaining stable plant performance.
“In my experience, the biggest contributor to the success of this project is the level of collaboration between TOMRA and PLS,” says Dr Xingshi Yang, Field Application Engineer at TOMRA. “All the sorters are tied into TOMRA’s remote network, allowing specialists to log in at any time.”
This embedded support model has helped de-risk adoption and reinforced confidence in ore sorting as a stable and fully integrated part of large-scale lithium processing operations.
A reference point for the next generation of lithium operations
As hard rock lithium projects continue to scale globally, the industry is increasingly looking for processing strategies capable of delivering long-term operational reliability under increasingly complex ore conditions. The experience at Pilgangoora demonstrates how large-scale sensor-based ore sorting has evolved from an emerging technology into a proven and trusted part of modern lithium processing operations."Implementing ore sorting into the process flow… is a game changer," says Rech. "This level of consistency and reliability is a blueprint for the industry and just demonstrates a way of doing things better."
With several years of operational experience and the world’s largest lithium ore sorting installation in operation, Pilgangoora now stands as a clear reference point for the future design of large-scale hard rock lithium operations, demonstrating that when sorting is treated as infrastructure rather than experimentation, reliability, consistency and long-term resource flexibility become design assumptions rather than aspirations.
Implementing ore sorting into the process flow… is a game changer. This level of consistency and reliability is a blueprint for the industry and just demonstrates a way of doing things better."
