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Lithium companies dominated last night’s annual Kalgoorlie Diggers and Dealers Awards, with the three major awards going to ASX-listed lithium stocks.
Pilbara Minerals (PLS) was crowned Digger of the Year Award, Allkem (AKE) was named Dealer of the Year and Patriot Battery Metals (PMT) took away the Best Emerging Company Award.
The awards, sponsored by Perth Mint, were presented at the WesTrac Gala Dinner in Kalgoorlie, where a three-course dinner was served to about 1300 people in the giant marquee that had hosted the three-day mining forum.
Digger of the Year Award
Pilbara Minerals was awarded the Digger of the Year Award for its Pilgangoora lithium project in Port Hedland. Over the past year, its sales volumes were up 68 per cent and, boosted by strong lithium prices, revenues increased 238 per cent to $4 billion providing the company with a cash balance of $3.3 billion.
Pilbara Minerals CEO Dale Henderson accepted the award.
“From a tin shed in Fremantle to where we are today, it has been an incredible journey,” he said.
“Be bold, be different, it’s a whole new era and I encourage us to tap into that pioneering spirit.”
Dealer of the Year Award
Allkem was recognised for the all-stock merger with Livent Corporation in May, to create an integrated global lithium chemicals producer.
Allkem itself evolved in 2021 through the $4 billion merger of Orocobre and Galaxy Resources.
Business Development Executive Rick Anthon said the transaction with NYSE-listed Livent created a $15 billion company.
“It’s quite remarkable in an industry that didn’t exist 10 years ago,” he said.
“We wanted scale, we wanted integration, as our CEO Martin Pèrez de Solay would say we wanted to own all those molecules all the way from the brine, all the spodumene all the way through to the batteries.”
Best Emerging Company Award
Patriot Battery Minerals built a maiden resource of 109.2 million tonnes at 1.42 per cent lithium oxide at its Corvette project in northern Quebec.
CEO, President and Director Blair Way said the level of enthusiasm at Diggers & Dealers had been ‘fantastic’.
“It’s been quite a journey, it looks like an overnight success, but overnight successes are never overnight,” he said.
“It’s a new Pilbara, but it’s in Canada.
“I couldn’t be more proud to be one of the pioneers for the Canadian Shield and the lithium industry.”
Other awards
Mining industry veteran Neil Warburton accepted the GJ Stokes Memorial Award. He spoke about the birth of Diggers & Dealers in 1992 after accountant Geoff Stokes had the vision to bring the ‘money men to Kalgoorlie to meet junior diggers’ at a time when gold was US$360 an ounce.
AFR reporter Brad Thompson was awarded the Diggers & Dealers Media Award and School of Mines student Luca Danovaro Hanza received the Ray Finlayson Medal for Leadership and Academic Excellence.
