Perth, May 11, 2026, 03:01 AWST
- Mineral Resources has created a chief operating officer role and promoted 17-year company executive Darren Killeen.
- The ASX-listed miner closed Friday at A$69.55, down 2.5%, but still near recent highs as investors track debt cuts and lithium pricing.
- Its POSCO lithium deal has moved to formal agreements, but completion is still subject to approvals and is now expected in the first half of FY2027.
Mineral Resources Ltd is starting the week with a new operating chief and a still-sensitive balance-sheet story, after the Western Australian miner promoted long-serving executive Darren Killeen to the newly created post of chief operating officer, the executive role responsible for day-to-day operations. The company said Killeen would report directly to Managing Director Chris Ellison.
That matters now because MinRes has been trying to convince investors that its heavy spending cycle, debt load and lithium exposure are moving in the right direction. Its shares closed at A$69.55 on Friday, down A$1.79, or 2.5%, after touching A$71.62 during the session, Bloomberg data showed.
Killeen is not a new face. MinRes said he has been with the group for 17 years and most recently led engineering and construction, including work on the Onslow Iron project and other assets across iron ore, lithium and mining services.
Ellison said Killeen had been “instrumental” in delivering major projects, while non-executive chair Mal Bundey said the board expected him to help execute the company’s strategy. The appointment also centralises leadership as MinRes keeps pushing Onslow Iron, lithium joint ventures and mining services contracts at the same time.
The other near-term issue is lithium. MinRes said on May 1 it had executed formal investment and shareholder agreements with POSCO Holdings for the South Korean group to acquire 30% of MinRes’ operational lithium business under a new incorporated joint venture, LithCo, which will hold MinRes’ existing 50% interests in the Wodgina and Mt Marion lithium mines.
Reuters previously reported the POSCO transaction at $765 million, with proceeds aimed at cutting debt and strengthening the balance sheet. RBC Capital Markets analyst Kaan Peker said at the time that the deal validated MinRes’ lithium assets, strengthened the balance sheet and preserved services income.
Ellison called the latest documents a “critical step” toward completion, while POSCO Holdings President Ju-Tae Lee said the partnership was “highly meaningful” for battery-materials supply. Spodumene concentrate — lithium-rich material sold for further processing into battery chemicals — remains the core commodity behind that push.
MinRes’ March-quarter report showed why investors are watching cash and debt as closely as production. Net debt fell to about A$4.5 billion at March 31 from A$4.9 billion at Dec. 31, while liquidity rose to A$1.8 billion from A$1.4 billion, the company said.
The group also issued US$1.3 billion of senior unsecured notes after the quarter, split between 2032 and 2034 maturities. Senior unsecured notes are bonds not backed by specific assets; MinRes said the proceeds would refinance nearer-term debt, repay an iron ore prepayment and redeem part of an older high-coupon bond.
CFO Mark Wilson told analysts the notes offering “pushes out our debt maturity profile” and reduces finance costs. He also said POSCO proceeds were intended to redeem the remaining US$750 million of October 2028 notes, if the transaction clears its conditions.
Operationally, MinRes reported a stronger March quarter. Onslow Iron produced 7.8 million wet metric tonnes and shipped 7.2 million tonnes on a 100% basis, while total attributable spodumene concentrate production from Wodgina and Mt Marion reached 127,000 dry metric tonnes of SC6, a 6% lithium concentrate product. The average achieved spodumene price was US$2,105 per dry metric tonne, up 92% from the prior quarter.
The competitive backdrop is mixed. POSCO already has a lithium hydroxide venture in South Korea with Australian rival Pilbara Minerals, while Wodgina is operated with Albemarle and Mt Marion is tied to Ganfeng Lithium. That makes MinRes both a supplier and a partner inside a crowded battery-materials chain, not just a stand-alone lithium miner.
But the POSCO deal is not closed. MinRes said completion still depends on further long-form documents, offtake and marketing papers, Foreign Investment Review Board approval and merger clearances, with completion now expected in the first half of FY2027. The company also flagged higher diesel costs in the June quarter, though it kept full-year cost guidance unchanged.
Investors will next get scheduled company numbers in late July, when MinRes is due to release its fourth-quarter report, followed by full-year results in August. Until then, the story is fairly plain: Killeen has to keep operations steady, POSCO has to close, and debt has to keep coming down.
