Pilbara Minerals’ Pilgangoora operation in Western Australia has been stepping through a staged expansion plan designed to push production scale higher and unit costs lower through the lithium cycle. The company’s P1000 project—budgeted at A$560 million—is the key “next rung” in that plan, lifting spodumene concentrate nameplate capacity from ~680,000 tonnes per year to ~1,000,000 tonnes per year (about a 47% increase). 

P1000 milestone: “first ore” and commissioning pathway

Pilbara reported that it achieved “first ore” on the P1000 Expansion Project on 31 January 2025, marking a major commissioning milestone at Pilgangoora. The company said the A$560m investment was completed ahead of schedule and within budget, and noted commissioning was underway with ramp-up to full capacity expected by the September quarter of 2025. 

P1000 was approved by Pilbara’s board in March 2023, with construction commencing in September 2023, according to the company’s update on the milestone. 

What P1000 actually changes on site

At a high level, P1000 is a processing capacity expansion—more tonnes through the plant, more concentrate out the back end. Mining Weekly’s coverage of the project’s final investment decision described P1000 as an expansion that increases throughput at the Pilgan plant alongside a “range of supporting site infrastructure,” with the explicit production goal of reaching 1 million tonnes a year of spodumene concentrate. 

Importantly, the company has framed the broader strategy around optionality—scaling up when demand supports it—while also targeting a position at the lower end of the cost curve to better ride out commodity downturns. 

Why spend $560m? The “scale + cost curve” logic

Big processing expansions in hard-rock lithium are typically justified on some combination of:
• Economies of scale (fixed costs spread across more tonnes),
• Improved operating leverage in upcycles (more product when prices are strong),
• Strategic relevance to downstream partners and offtake buyers (bigger, more dependable supply),
• Resilience in downcycles (lower unit costs help keep margins alive when lithium prices weaken).

Pilbara’s own commentary around P1000 emphasises this theme: more capacity, more scale, and a continued focus on driving operating costs down. 

The next question: P2000 (but it’s not “locked in”)

Alongside P1000, Pilbara has also highlighted P2000 as a potential future expansion pathway. In June 2024, Pilbara released pre-feasibility study (PFS) outcomes indicating Pilgangoora production capacity could be expanded to more than 2.0 million tonnes per annum, with the first ten years averaging ~1.9Mtpa and more than 2Mtpa over the first six years after ramp-up. 

But the key point for any “news-style” summary is the conditionality:
• Pilbara said the timing of P2000 is subject to feasibility outcomes, approvals, and market outlook at the time of a potential investment decision. 
• The company stated it had commenced a feasibility study, with outcomes expected in the December quarter of CY2025, and that a potential FID would follow. 
• The PFS materials also flagged a preliminary capex estimate of ~A$1.2B (-20/+30%) and described a new whole-of-ore flotation plant as part of that concept. 

In other words: P2000 is an option under study, not a guaranteed build.