Mining veteran Tim Goyder says Liontown Resources defied the odds to start life as a lithium producer on time and on budget. But if he is right, Liontown’s Kathleen Valley will be the last mine to open in Australia for a while.

The Liontown chairman said he would pick out a celebratory bottle of red wine from his cellar after the company declared the first lithium production at Western Australia’s Kathleen Valley on Wednesday.