SYDNEY, June 10, 2026, 07:03 AEST
- IGO was last seen at A$8.98, down roughly 6% from its close a week ago, before the ASX opened on Wednesday.
- IGO and Tianqi Lithium could be on the hook for over A$170 million tied to an ongoing dispute with the ATO, according to a June 8 report.
- Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.24% Tuesday. Materials stocks lagged.
IGO Limited faces renewed scrutiny over a tax dispute heading into Wednesday’s ASX open. Shares in the lithium and nickel miner closed at A$8.98, up steeply over time but now down about 6% from a week ago after running higher and then pulling back.
ASX trading hadn’t started yet in Sydney, with the cash market set to open just before 10 a.m. and run until 4 p.m. That means Tuesday’s close is still the last solid price. Markets were shut Monday for the King’s Birthday holiday, so it’s a short trading week.
Tianqi Lithium and IGO could be on the hook for more than A$170 million, plus penalties, as the Australian Taxation Office takes a hard look at the 2020 creation of Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia, Grafa reported June 8. The ATO is reviewing structures that may have let the companies exit some Australian investments tax-free, the report said. Australia’s Part IVA anti-avoidance rule is also in the mix.
IGO’s half-year numbers already spelled out some of that risk. The company disclosed it would take on a share of any unexpected tax bills tied to Tianqi’s internal restructure, matching its 49% joint-venture stake, with exposure capped at A$96.7 million.
IGO’s lithium is closely linked to TLEA. Under the original Tianqi deal, IGO ended up with a 24.99% indirect stake in Greenbushes, the big hard-rock lithium mine in Western Australia, and a 49% indirect stake in the Kwinana lithium hydroxide plant.
IGO’s March-quarter update showed a mixed outlook. The company dropped Greenbushes FY26 spodumene output forecast to 1.375 million-1.425 million tonnes, down from 1.5 million-1.65 million tonnes. It also raised its unit cash cost guidance for the mine to between A$380 and A$420 per tonne. Spodumene is a lithium-bearing concentrate that goes into battery chemicals.
There were offsets. IGO reported March-quarter realised spodumene prices almost doubled to US$1,668 a tonne. Greenbushes posted a 75% EBITDA margin and group underlying EBITDA climbed to A$119 million. The group uses underlying EBITDA, which strips out interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, as a rough proxy for operating profit.
Ivan Vella, the chief executive, was blunt about the problems. “Greenbushes production result this quarter is disappointing,” he said in the latest March-quarter update. Vella also flagged a jump in fuel costs, saying higher fuel will push up future expenses.
The run-up in lithium names looked overdone. Data from Market Index showed IGO in the group of ASX 200 materials trading at 52-week highs over the past week, along with PLS Group and Mineral Resources. But IGO still dropped 6.3% for the week in that tally. PLS lost 8.5% and Mineral Resources fell 8.0%.
Company news from IGO is still weeks out. The miner’s calendar lists a June-quarter activities update for July 28, and full-year earnings on Aug. 27. Those reports will cover Greenbushes, Kwinana, cash flow and new guidance.
Risks are in both directions. If tax exposure doesn’t lead to cash leaving the business and Greenbushes improves its ramp-up, the market could pay more attention to lithium prices and operating cash flow again. But if the ATO result goes against the company, bigger penalties, or if Greenbushes falls short again, defending IGO’s share price rebound will be tougher.
