Monsters of Rock: Greatland responds to ASX's burning questions, Chinese backer tips $50m into Liontown

News.com.au

2 days ago

Greatland Resources responds to burning questions on FY26 guidance
Chinese lithium refiner joins Aussie government as strange bedfellows in $316m Liontown raise
Miners float higher in big week for gold and critical minerals
Monsters of Rock covers the big news in the large cap ASX mining space.
In the quiet morning fog of the days post Diggers and Dealers, two of the mid-tier mining space's most closely watched stocks have shifted under the cover of darkness to respond to some burning questions.
One is Greatland Resources (ASX:GGP), which today dropped an extensive response to ASX queries about the radical shift in its guidance versus prospectus forecasts from an ASX IPO that saw its shares charge to $7.30 on listing in late June.
The Andrew Forrest backed owner of the Telfer gold mine is now trading at just $5.12, its lowest point since adding Australia to its primary London listing.
In essence, Greatland told the ASX in a response to a price and volume query that the miner, which bought the operations and 70% of the Havieron discovery it didn't own from Newmont for US$475m last year, only made the decisions that resulted in its changing production, capex and cost expectations after reviewing its operations and plans in July.
The release of its June quarterly report and guidance, which saw FY26 gold output cut from 320-360,000oz to 260-310,000z and cost guidance changed from $2400-2600/oz to $2400-2800/oz, prompted a 24% one day decline in its share price.
In a detailed response to questions on Friday, Greatland said information in its ASX prospectus advised investors it would review operations in a way that could incur additional costs.
It also stated that updates to its production target, operating cost forecast and capital costs were not determined until after a board meeting on July 24, with its decision based on a FY26 budget prepared between the start of a management review on July 10 and July 23.
"The proposed FY26 budget board paper and proposed updated production target information, updated capital cost information and updated operating cost information, was first provided to the Board on Wednesday, 23 July 2025," the $3.4 billion company said.
No one's spoken to us...
Greatland MD Shaun Day addressed the controversy fronting up to media at Diggers and Dealers in Kalgoorlie on Tuesday.
He said the prospectus info had been based on the data the company had at its disposal at the time.
"That was the due diligence process kind of leading to that prospectus. We were comfortable with it and you saw the March quarter, it was really strong," Day said.
"Post FY25, we provided an update."
Day also denied a claim made in an AFR article that Greatland had been contacted by Australia's corporate watchdog ASIC.
He also believes the company has delivered productivity gains at site despite lifting its operating cost forecast, noting the change was proportionately smaller than the decrease in its planned production rate.
It's come amid concerns inflation is starting to creep up in the gold sector and swallow margins.
"Of course there's some inflation in the sector, but we've more than offset that by the productivity improvements, which we think we maintain into FY 26," Day said.
Liontown gets Canberra backing
The other big one was the revelation Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) had hit up the market for fresh equity, including a $50m tip from Aussie taxpayers.
Only a few days after Resources Minister Madeleine King indicated government equity investments in critical minerals projects were potentially on the table, the National Reconstruction Fund – previously a backer of rare earths developer Arafura Rare Earths (ASX:ARU) – picked up a sizeable chunk of a $316m raise to provide a cash buffer for the Kathleen Valley lithium mine owner.
The raising has seen a small tyre-fire put out by LTR boss Tony Ottaviano, apologising for comments he made that the company's largest shareholder was turning focus from Aussie lithium to US rare earths and fossil fuels.
That's none other than Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting, which had around 18% of the company before Thursday's 73c per share raise.
Hancock, which initially acquired close to 20% of the stock in a 2023 raid that killed a $6.6bn takeover by US lithium giant Albemarle, was reportedly not participating in this week's cash call.
The Kathleen Valley mine opened this year, but the need for additional cash has been a live issue with spodumene prices currently in the order of US$775/t and trading as low as US$610/t as recently as mid-June.
Intriguingly, a $50m placement to China's Canmax Technologies, also a major shareholder in WA junior Global Lithium Resources (ASX:GL1), has been added to the original $266m placement.
It's subject to Liontown shareholder approval and Chinese outbound investment sign-off.
That means LTR has $472m to play with ahead of a potential $20m from a share purchase plan to retail investors.
It comes after Liontown boss Tony Ottaviano floated the potential entry of Chinese capital into the business in July despite previous comments about the company's intention to supply markets outside the major lithium refiner.
"I'm very pleased with the strong support we've received for this Placement, which attracted significant demand from high-quality institutional investors, both in Australia and offshore," Ottaviano said in comments to the market today.
"Despite challenging market conditions, the backing from the equity markets, who have contributed 84% of the money raised, alongside support from the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation, underscores the quality, long-term value, and strategic importance of Kathleen Valley to the Australian economy and national interest.
"The investment in Liontown by Canmax, a world leading producer of lithium chemicals, in the Conditional Placement reflects confidence in the long-term value of the Kathleen Valley Operation, and we think is a strong positive indicator for the demand outlook of lithium products."
The capital raising will "support the ramp up and transition to 100% underground operations" at KV, Ottaviano said.
Liontown shares fell 7.1% after the placement was finalised on Friday morning.
The ASX 300 Metals and Mining index rose 5.45% over the past week.
Which ASX 300 Resources stocks have impressed and depressed?
Making gains
Catalyst Metals (ASX:CYL) (gold) +27%
Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX) (gold) +19.9%
WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1) (niobium) +19.9%
Lynas (ASX:LYC) (lithium) +19.6%
Eating losses
Sims Metal Management (ASX:SGM) (metal recycling) -3.6%
IperionX (ASX:IPX) (titanium) -2.2%
Develop Global (ASX:DVP) (copper) -0.9%
Bluescope Steel (ASX:BSL) (steel) -0.6%
It was a good week for miners in general, with gold heading back towards US$3390/oz and critical minerals plays like Lynas (ASX:LYC) buoyed by news