Core Lithium secures $205 million to restart project

Australia’s Core Lithium said on Wednesday it had secured about $205 million to fully fund the construction and restart of its Finniss lithium project, and that its board had approved the final investment decision to proceed.

The funding package comprises a $70 million convertible note from Glencore’s Australia unit and InfraVia, a $50 million senior secured debt facility from Nebari, and a A$120 million ($85.3 million) equity raising before costs.

Core said the placement will be priced at A$0.21 per share, a 4.5% discount to the stock’s close on Tuesday.

The shares of the company were placed on trading halt earlier in the day pending a capital raising announcement.

In February, Core Lithium signed a binding agreement with Glencore International AG to sell its remaining spodumene concentrate stockpile from the project at $2,023 per tonne.

Proceeds from the sale will support the restart and provide liquidity during ramp-up, the company said.

Core is targeting first spodumene concentrate production from the project in the September quarter.

In February, lithium miner PLS said it would restart production at its Western Australia plant in July, restoring about 200,000 tons of annual output after more than a year offline.

Miners of the raw material used in electric vehicle batteries are seeing early signs of a price recovery after nearly two years of declines as softer-than-expected EV demand caused a supply glut.

Last week, Liontown said it was reviewing a possible expansion of its Kathleen Valley mine on expectations of higher lithium prices.

($1 = A$1.4073)

(By Keshav Singh Chundawat; Editing by Sumana Nandy)