Pilbara Minerals soared to a maiden full-year profit of $561.8 million on the back of already strong global demand for lithium raw materials and spodumene concentrate.

It was a massive turnaround on last year’s $51.4 million loss and came as sales revenue jumped by 577 per cent to $1.2 billion.

The surge in lithium prices coincided with a strong operating performance at Pilbara Minerals’ Pilgangoora mine in WA’s Pilbara, where it is operating two processing plants after restarting the assets it acquired from Altura Mining when that company fell on hard times after the last lithium boom.

Pilbara Minerals shipped 361,035 tonnes of spodumene concentrate in 2021-22, up from 281,440 tonnes last year. The company received $US2382 per tonne for its spodumene concentrate – a big jump from mid-2020 when the same product fetched closer to $US410 per tonne.

Pilbara Minerals managing director Dale Henderson said it had been an incredible year for the company as it capitalised on surging demand for lithium from battery makers and car manufacturers.

Mr Henderson said there was plenty of upside, with the former Altura plant set to achieve nameplate capacity of 180,000 to 200,000 tonnes in the September quarter, giving Pilbara Minerals combined spodumene production capacity of up to 580,000 tonnes a year.

Mr Henderson said strong demand was coming from everywhere, including existing customers and those wanting to access spodumene.

“If we could produce more, they would take more,” he said.

“(And) inquiries continue thick and fast from new customers. The most vivid example is our Battery Material Exchange (digital sales platform) which continues to be heavily contested, and long may that continue.

“What we see is new entrants scrambling (for supply), including some OEMs who are obviously in the headlines more and more every day.”

Mr Henderson said the 2021-22 result had transformed the balance sheet and put the company in the driver’s seat for more growth.

“The restart of the Ngungaju plant during the year, together with capacity improvements at the Pilgan plant enabled increased production volumes to sell into this strong pricing environment,” he said.

Pilbara Minerals has recently signed off on plans to grow production to a combined 640,000-680,000 tonnes a year and is progressing towards a final investment decision on expanding production to one million tonnes a year.