The start of construction of what will become the world's largest lithium processing plant was celebrated on Thursday, March 28.
Premier Mark McGowan joined United States Ambassador to Australia, Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., State and Federal Members of Parliament and Albemarle representatives to officially turn the sod on the Albemarle lithium hydroxide processing plant in Kemerton.
The facility is a $1 billion investment in Western Australia that will create 500 construction jobs and another 500 jobs in the South West, once operational.
It will become Australia's largest lithium hydroxide plant, with approval to produce up to 100,000 tonnes per annum of premium battery grade lithium hydroxide.
Albemarle Corporations David Klanecky said they were excited to be in the South West with the Kemerton lithium facility set to the become the largest in the world.
"We're excited to be here, this is our first operation in Australia," he said.
Mr Klanecky said Albemarle planned to do as much as possible locally.
"Our plan now is to work with the local community on how do we train the workforce up and into chemical processing operations, so we're pretty confident that we'll be able to build a workforce here," he said.
"We're very open to meeting with the South West communities because we want to employ local people and we want to be competitive with the job market.
"If we can hire 500 locally, we will hire 500 locally."
Mr McGowan said the facility was exactly what the state had been looking for, for a long period of time.
"This is a terrifc day for the South West - this is all about jobs for West Australians," he said.
"I've said to the company we would love to see people from Bunbury, Australind, Harvey and Collie trained up and have the opportunities for these jobs - Collie in particular as we want to make sure Collie has a strong future."
Mr McGowan said lithium would be a big part of WA's future, with the state currently the number one global producer of the sought after mineral.
"With up to 1,000 local jobs being created, this project will be a huge economic boost for the South West region and will show the capability WA has in the lithium-ion battery sector," he said.
Collie-Preston MLA Mick Murray said it was the beginning of a huge job-creating investment in the region.
“I’m excited to see this project take shape and looking forward to the new jobs it will create for locals here in Collie and across the South West," he said.
Albemarle now has an office in Australind and is beginning the recruitment process, currently advertising for engineers and planners.
