Liontown managing director Tony Ottaviano says he’s open to growing his company’s lithium portfolio and would look at Rio Tinto’s Mt Cattlin mine if approached.
Gina Rinehart-backed Liontown ended last financial year with more than $560 million in the bank, riding the wave of positivity in the lithium market to generate $137 million over three months.
The company is planning towards an expansion call at its sole Kathleen Valley mine this quarter and hopes to achieve a mining run rate of 2.8 million tonnes per annum by the end of next year.
But with the market for the battery metal resurgent compared with 12 months ago, Mr Ottaviano said the company was looking at different avenues to growth.
“We’re good at exploration, and that’s why we’ve instigated, now that we’ve got a little bit of money, our growth options from exploration,” he said.
“The second area is shovel-ready operations – these are things that are permitted, ready to go, should we build? But that’s a three-to-five-year journey.
“And then there’s … operating assets, but they take a lot more risk. They take a lot more due diligence and a lot more understanding.
“I think a portfolio that has a mixture of all that is what you should be preparing for, and that’s what we’re doing.”
Mr Ottaviano said Liontown would “probably stay within brief” when it came to its commodity focus, with lithium the most likely target.
Questioned specifically about the mine, he said Rio Tinto’s mothballed Mt Cattlin asset near Ravensthorpe could come under consideration if an approach was made.
“If they approach us, we’ll look at it,” Mr Ottaviano said.
“But it’ll depend on the quality of the resource, and where it sits on the cost curve.”
Mt Cattlin was closed in July 2025, having come onto the books of Rio via its acquisition of $10.7 billion Arcadium Lithium acquisition months earlier.
Rio boss Simon Trott flagged the potential for the global mining giant to sell the asset last week, when he declared it was not a focus for the company’s lithium division.
Liontown’s changing fortunes have been propelled by exposure to spodumene markets, which have evolved in recent years and allowed the company to access more dynamic pricing for its spodumene product.
The miner initially sold its product under offtake contracts signed in 2022 to help it secure funding as it developed Kathleen Valley, but Mr Ottaviano said they were being slowly unwound.
“Two thirds of our book by the end of the calendar year will be on the spodumene index,” he said.
Liontown raised $316 million in August last year, in a move to secure its balance sheet amid a challenging macroeconomic environment.
Liontown shares closed 2.5 per cent higher at 99c today.
