Sydney, June 11, 2026, 09:05 AEST
- Liontown Limited shares dropped 7.97% to around A$1.90 on June 10, with trading volume much higher than usual. The stock moved in a range from A$1.88 to A$2.08.
- Liontown Ltd’s ASX releases page had nothing new for June, so attention stayed on lithium prices and how stable the Kathleen Valley ramp-up is.
- Lithium carbonate prices in China moved higher on the day, though the contract is still off 15.11% over the last month. The drop has weighed on sentiment for lithium miners.
Liontown Limited shares fell nearly 8% in Sydney on June 10, giving up ground despite recent cash flow progress at Kathleen Valley. The stock was quoted at about A$1.90 on Google Finance, off 7.97%, after starting at A$2.07 and hitting a session low at A$1.88. Trading volume reached 33.60 million shares, well over the 19.20 million average.
Liontown shares fell, putting focus on two things: Kathleen Valley’s progress as an underground lithium mine, and hopes for stronger lithium prices to boost revenue. After the drop, the company’s market cap was about A$6.06 billion, still reflecting big expectations in a fast-moving commodity.
No fresh Liontown filings were out to account for the move. The latest item on the company’s ASX releases page was its May 5 Macquarie Australia Conference presentation for 2026, then an April 30 March-quarter presentation and a quarterly activities report.
Lithium prices drew more notice. Trading Economics reported lithium carbonate in China moved up 1.22% to 165,750 yuan a tonne on June 10, though prices stayed off 15.11% for the month. The data group linked the month’s price drop to miners coming back online after prices climbed in May. Liontown’s product isn’t lithium carbonate, but the benchmark still matters for battery-material names.
Liontown wasn’t the only name hit. IGO dropped 6.01% and Core Lithium lost 5.88% on the same Google Finance ASX screen, with PLS Group also in the red. That doesn’t nail down what drove Liontown’s fall, but does point to investors pulling back from lithium stocks, not just reacting to one Liontown filing.
Liontown’s latest quarter numbers show the company taking in A$197 million revenue after selling 83,912 dry metric tonnes of spodumene concentrate. That’s the lithium-focused output from its hard-rock mining. The average price came in at US$1,845 a tonne on an SC6e basis, or six-percent lithium oxide equivalent.
Liontown posted its first quarter of positive net cash flow since production started. The company reported A$33 million in net cash flow, with operating cash flow at A$55 million. Cash at the end of the quarter stood at A$424 million. “Liontown is generating positive net cash flow,” Managing Director and CEO Tony Ottaviano said.
Kathleen Valley is now shifting more into underground mining, a phase investors have had on their radar. The company said the March quarter was its first full period running as an all-underground operation. Underground ore mined climbed 31% from the previous quarter to 402,000 tonnes. The company added it reached an annualized underground run-rate of 1.5 million tonnes quicker than planned.
Margin is next up, not just production. Liontown said unit operating costs hit A$981 per dry metric tonne sold on an FOB basis, which is before some shipping costs. The all-in sustaining cost was A$1,251 per tonne, a figure that includes extras like royalties, leases and sustaining capital. FY2026 guidance is unchanged.
Liontown put average plant recovery at 61% for the March quarter, but said it hit 70% lithia recovery on clean underground ore during the last week. Recovery of about 70% held through the first three weeks of April as more underground ore went into the mill feed.
Balance sheet looks healthier than earlier in the year. Liontown said LG Energy Solution converted US$250 million in convertible notes to shares, cutting A$482 million in liabilities and putting Liontown at a net cash spot of A$61 million at March 31. The only loans left were a A$300 million Ford facility and a A$15 million interest-free loan from Western Australia’s government.
Liontown could be exposed if lithium prices keep dropping or if new supply brings more pressure. Realised prices might fall further while spending picks up as the ramp-up continues. Liontown has already locked in early works for the Kathleen Valley expansion, like a 5.5 MW ball mill costing about A$12 million, plus A$15 million to A$18 million in early-works cash spending for FY2026 and as much as A$77 million committed before a final investment decision.
June-quarter numbers are up next. Investors want to see if higher underground feed, 70% recoveries and April cash receipts show up in cash generation. The big catalyst is still the Kathleen Valley expansion call, which is aimed for the end of the first quarter of FY2027.
