Perth, June 7, 2026, 21:05 (AWST)
- Pilbara Minerals (PLS) fell 3.75% on Friday to finish at A$5.91, ending the week 8.51% lower.
- ASX cash trading will not open Monday, with the market closed for the King’s Birthday. It follows the usual weekend break.
- PLS launched its Pilgangoora mid-stream lithium facility on June 5. The company expects first product in the September quarter.
PLS Group shares slid going into the ASX holiday stretch, despite the company’s new processing plant in Western Australia. The lithium miner’s stock finished Friday at A$5.91, off 3.75% on the day, and down 8.51% for the week.
Timing is key here. ASX cash equities won’t trade Monday for the King’s Birthday holiday, with regular hours from 09:59:45 to 16:00 Sydney time on other days. That means Tuesday is the next full shot for investors to trade on the plant news and price in the selloff.
PLS gave back early gains this week. Shares finished at A$6.74 Monday but then slipped each day for the rest of the week. On Friday, PLS traded between A$5.81 and A$6.12, with around 36.2 million shares changing hands, according to Intelligent Investor.
PLS put out operational news June 5, saying it started up what it describes as Australia’s first mine-site lithium mid-stream processing plant at its Pilgangoora site in the Pilbara. The company owns Pilgangoora, a hard-rock lithium operation.
Mid-stream processing refers to the stage between producing mining concentrate and producing finished battery chemicals. The demonstration plant is using electric calcination, a process that applies high heat, to turn spodumene concentrate — which is crushed lithium ore — into lithium phosphate. Lithium phosphate is an intermediate used in making lithium-ion batteries.
PLS has started commissioning with startup testing underway. First product is targeted for the September quarter. The plant is designed for 27,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate processing a year, with output of about 3,000 tonnes of lithium phosphate once at full scale.
PLS CEO Dale Henderson said the build is finished, and the company will move on to commissioning, operational work and commercial checks. “Construction is now complete and our focus turns to commissioning, operational performance and commercial validation,” Henderson said. PLS
PLS has lined up funding and a test with a customer, but still no commercial production. The company said it got grants up to A$38.1 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, A$20 million from the federal Modern Manufacturing Initiative, and A$15 million from Western Australia’s Investment Attraction Fund. Lithium phosphate from commissioning and ramp-up is set to go to Ningbo Ronbay as part of an offtake contract for future supplies.
Australian hard-rock lithium stocks are the main comps here. In May, PLS’s investor slides lined it up with Mineral Resources, IGO, and Liontown as global primary lithium producers. Bigger firms like Rio Tinto, though, are more diversified on commodities.
ASX 200 gave up 0.70% to close at 8,625.10 on June 5, with most market reports flagging banks and miners as the biggest losers. That left PLS’s plant milestone going up against a softer tone across the Australian market.
The earlier operating numbers looked stronger for the bulls. Back in April, Reuters said PLS hit a record 232,436 dry metric tonnes of spodumene concentrate production for the March quarter, coming in ahead of consensus. Analyst Kaan Peker from RBC Capital called it “a clear beat, driven by stronger-than-expected production and a meaningful cost outperformance.” Reuters
No local quote sets things up for traders on Monday, so the action picks up with Tuesday’s reopening. July brings the first ore out of the Ngungaju restart, which targets about 200,000 tonnes a year. The site moves to steady production as the September quarter ramps up to normal output.
But this plant is still experimental. It isn’t a proven source of earnings yet. PLS says it plans to keep commissioning and ramping up the site in stages through FY27, using that time to check plant output, product quality, operating performance, emissions and market support. If lithium prices fall, Ronbay trials go badly or restart costs are higher than expected, PLS shares could keep moving with spodumene prices instead of hopes for value-added processing.
