Sydney, June 9, 2026, 19:07 AEST
PLS Group Ltd closed down Tuesday. Traders looked at a fresh processing drive at Pilgangoora lithium, but the mood in resource stocks stayed weak. Short interest in the company climbed.
The ASX-listed lithium producer ended at A$5.86, down 0.85% for the day, with shares changing hands between A$5.71 and A$5.90 by 4:11 p.m. in Sydney. About 29.95 million shares traded. The company’s market cap was near A$18.88 billion, Google Finance data show.
Australian shares finished lower, with the S&P/ASX 200 down 0.24% at the close in Sydney. Gold, metals and mining, and materials stocks pulled the index lower in a weaker session.
PLS traded for the first time Tuesday after the ASX cash market was closed Monday, June 8, for the King’s Birthday holiday. This was the first session since the company’s Friday announcement that it had opened Australia’s first mine-site lithium mid-stream processing facility. Mid-stream processing sits between mining and making refined battery chemicals.
Pilbara Minerals (PLS) has finished building its demonstration plant at Pilgangoora in Western Australia. The company said the facility will use electric calcination to turn spodumene concentrate into lithium phosphate, which is used in lithium-ion batteries. First output from the plant is due in the September quarter. The plant will process around 27,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate annually and aims to produce roughly 3,000 tonnes of lithium phosphate at full run-rate. PLS Managing Director and CEO Dale Henderson said the build is done and, if the new process works and customers buy in, the project could become a “meaningful strategic option” for the miner. Pls
Investors aren’t buying that option unless they see results. Pilbara Minerals (PLS) dropped 9.29% from its close a week ago, Morningstar numbers from Intelligent Investor show. Still up 40.71% this year.
PLS, which used to be Pilbara Minerals, has the Pilgangoora Operation in Western Australia and the Colina Lithium Project in Brazil. It also has a stake in the lithium chain through a joint venture with POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution in South Korea.
Short bets against PLS got heavier last week, with short interest up to 10.89%, a jump of 4.40 percentage points, Market Index said Tuesday. Short selling is when investors borrow and sell shares hoping to buy them back lower. Market Index also pointed out that Chinese lithium carbonate futures have slid around 25% from highs seen in mid-May.
The broker debate keeps coming back to timing as much as to lithium price. Macquarie is staying with outperform on PLS and a A$6.20 target, the Motley Fool Australia reported last week, but flagged the P2000 capital expenditure plan as a main overhang with diesel and steel costs pushing expansion spending higher.
PLS stays in the busy lithium trade with IGO, Mineral Resources and Liontown as investors weigh if the bounce in the battery-materials cycle will last or if it’s just another short squeeze in an unpredictable commodity market.
PLS still has its plant to start up, must deal with short sellers, and its share price is holding much of this year’s gains. The next test is if Pilgangoora will move the new facility from a demo to something buyers want.
