Jan 24 (Reuters) - IGO, along with its joint

venture partner China's Tianqi Lithium, will cease

all operations at one of its lithium hydroxide plants at the

Kwinana refinery in Western Australia, the two companies said on

Friday, following an earlier impairment warning.

The Australian battery metal producer warned of an

additional net loss in its first-half results earlier this week,

citing a decline in value of its troubled Kwinana refinery.

Some mines that produce lithium, used in electric vehicle

batteries, have curtailed operations or delayed expansions after

a 90% drop in prices over the last two years, while other

loss-making mines have maintained production, largely because

they have the support of Chinese battery-makers.

A growing list of producers have been reviewing lithium

operations in Australia since last year amid a rout in prices

for the battery raw material that is expected to result in more

production cuts, which included the likes of Arcadium Lithium ( ARLTF )

and Albemarle.

IGO expects to provide the final figure related to the

impairment value in its first-half results.

The Kwinana facility is part of the Tianqi Lithium Energy

Australia (TLEA) joint venture between IGO and Tianqi, in which

the Australian miner holds 49% and the latter holds a 51% stake.

The decision on ceasing work at the plant has also been

agreed to by both Kwinana joint venture partners, IGO said.

Tianqi Lithium, in a separate announcement on Thursday,

determined in a board meeting that "continuing with the

construction of Lithium Hydroxide Project Train II is not

economically viable."

On Friday, it stated that the company sees a total

impairment provision of around 1.412 billion yuan ($193.74

million) "for construction in progress and right-of-use assets"

at the plant.

The lithium market is reeling from rapid supply growth

that has outpaced strong projections for demand from several

years ago, as uptake of electric vehicles has been slower than

expected.

($1 = 7.2880 Chinese yuan renminbi)