Workers at a lithium project in Western Australia's north are reeling after losing their jobs after the project was suddenly mothballed.

Key points: The Wodgina Lithium Project was planned to host the first lithium processing facility in the north of WA

The Wodgina Lithium Project was planned to host the first lithium processing facility in the north of WA Of the 270 current workers 30 will be retained for care and maintenance, 135 redeployed, and the future of 100 jobs uncertain

Of the 270 current workers 30 will be retained for care and maintenance, 135 redeployed, and the future of 100 jobs uncertain The decision came as Mineral Resources announced it had completed a joint venture and sale agreement with Albemarle

The future of 100 workers at the Wodgina Lithium Project, south of Port Hedland, is uncertain.

Mineral Resources (MinRes) said it would retain 30 of the 270 staff for care and maintenance work at Wodgina.

A further 135 would be redeployed to other parts of MinRes' operations, leaving 100 workers' jobs uncertain.

The company told the Australian Stock Exchange it had placed Wodgina into care and maintenance mode due to global conditions.

The project was planned to host the first lithium processing facility in the north of WA.

'Not expected'

Mining analyst Tim Treadgold said the mothballing of the of the project was not expected.

"But it is a reflection of the very tough times in the lithium market which are themselves a reflection of tough times and the market for electric vehicles which is flat and not growing as expected," he said.

"We have moved too quickly, the demand isn't there."

"We've got a very active, very efficient very fast moving mining industry, so they saw an opportunity, they seized it with both hands, and they've charged-in without looking at the end market, which is very common.

"And the end market just isn't there yet," Mr Treadgold said.

Workers left 'shocked, stunned'

Ty is a plant operator at Wodgina lithium project south of Port Hedland. (ABC News: Charlotte Hamlyn)

One plant worker said he and his colleagues were told the news this morning after finishing a night shift.

They were told they would receive their entitlements and were given two hours to pack their bags.

"Shocked, stunned," said the worker, who only gave his first name as Ty.

"I don't think many people saw it coming. Some people were pretty emotive, especially people with young families and partners."

The decision came as the company announced it had completed a joint venture and sale agreement with Albemarle.

The MinRes statement said the new joint venture expected the transition to care and maintenance would take about four weeks.

It is believed that night shift workers are mainly affected by the job losses. (Supplied: Mineral Resources)

"The decision was made in recognition of challenging global lithium market conditions and to preserve the value of the world-class Wodgina spodumene orebody," the statement said. "The Company is assessing the implications for our employees and, where possible and appropriate, will seek to redeploy them across MRL's other operations."

Workers told to leave on buses

Ty, who had been working at the site for 13 months, said he was told there were two buses waiting to transport them to Port Hedland Airport.

"Nobody actually knows what their prospects are — will they be re-reemployed or whether they'll get redundancies," he said.

"I think the plant will come up again. It's the price of the product that is the problem. How long that is is another question.

"In the meantime many, many people are out of employment. They've got young families, they've got young kids.

"I've seen a lot of my work mates in some pretty emotional conversations. A lot of people are quite stressed."

Despite the turmoil, Ty thought MinRes had handled the difficult situation as best it could.

"But at the end of the day there are a lot of workers without jobs and don't know which way to go," he said.