PERTH, June 25, 2026, 05:07 (AWST)
- Liontown shares ended Wednesday 1.1% higher at A$1.90. The company posted VanEck’s notice saying it is no longer a substantial holder.
- VanEck sold 40.5 million Liontown shares from two funds, raising about A$80.2 million on June 19.
Liontown Ltd ended the day at A$1.90, moving in a A$1.78 to A$1.91 range. Volume hit 48.2 million shares, well over twice its typical level. The S&P/ASX 200 put on 0.24%.
Van Eck Associates Corp is no longer a substantial holder as of June 19. The company defined a substantial holder as anyone with 5% or more of the voting rights in a listed firm. Van Eck’s REMX fund sold 26.9 million shares for A$53.3 million, and UCTREMX offloaded 13.6 million shares for A$27.0 million, according to the filing. The filing didn’t include what VanEck’s current stake is.
VanEck first hit the disclosure mark on March 20, holding 171.3 million Liontown shares, or 5.39% of the miner. Most of those shares were in VanEck’s Australian and European funds focused on rare earths and strategic metals.
Lithium stocks caught a bid after some bullish industry remarks. Fastmarkets CEO Raju Daswani said, “The period of market overcorrection is over,” pointing to lithium demand from battery storage up 40% a year. PLS CEO Dale Henderson pressed the government, asking, “What are governments willing to pay for security of supply?” as miners pushed for more support processing lithium outside China. Reuters
Liontown’s Kathleen Valley mine in Western Australia is the source of its exposure. For the March quarter, the miner sold 83,912 dry metric tonnes of spodumene concentrate, averaging US$1,845 per tonne on a 6% lithium-oxide-equivalent basis. Net cash flow came in positive at A$33 million, with A$424 million in cash at the end of March. “We are on track to meet the FY2026 guidance we set the market,” Managing Director Tony Ottaviano said.
Liontown is putting up to A$77 million into early expansion work ahead of a final investment decision, which it expects at the end of the first quarter in fiscal 2027. Plans call for a A$12 million ball mill, which the company said should increase plant throughput and recovery.
Higher lithium prices risk drawing mothballed supply back online before demand can catch up. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence says to expect a “material decline” in prices in the second half of 2026. BNP Paribas called prices as having “derailed from fundamentals.” Any sharp drop would hit Liontown’s realised prices right as it ramps up expansion spending and tries to improve plant recovery. Reuters
Ford agreed in October to push back Liontown’s principal and interest payments due in fiscal 2026 by a year. Liontown also cut its remaining supply deal with Ford in half, dropping the volume from 2027 to 256,250 dry metric tonnes. The deal calls for no shipments in 2027 or 2028.
