The Western Australian mine is now focusing on wet plant commissioning at the ball mill and HPGR, and more than 100,000t has been mined and is ready for processing.

Altura said commissioning of the remainder of the plant also includes turning on the main power plant on June 1, the commissioning of the dense media separation modules, classification circuit and product upgrade and load-out circuits.

The lithium project is aiming for its first shipment in July.

"We have to remember this was a greenfields site that required the procurement and installation of all site infrastructure," managing director James Brown said, calling the commissioning milestone a significant step for the company. "I am very confident of our team's ability to commission a processing plant with both dense media separation and flotation circuits and transform us into a producer."

Altura, which owns 100% of the project at Pilgangoora, has set a target for production in stage 1 of 220,000t per year. By the end of the financial year, it will be making a final investment decision on the work involved in its stage 2 expansion project.