A$4.36 million loss leaves Altamin seeking more capital for Lazio

Funding uncertainty shadows Lazio study milestone

Altamin Limited (ASX:AZI) has reached the pointy end of its Lazio development work, completing the principal technical workstreams for a Scoping Study on a geothermal brine project targeting sulphate of potash, lithium and boron. Yet the company’s audited annual report carries a more immediate warning: additional capital will be required within the next 12 months, and BDO has highlighted a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on Altamin’s ability to continue as a going concern.

The warning sits alongside a year of substantial project activity. Altamin reported a net loss of A$4.36 million for FY2026, compared with A$4.96 million a year earlier, while operating cash outflows increased to A$3.84 million from A$3.15 million. Cash at 30 June was A$2.39 million, boosted by A$5.39 million raised through the entitlement offer and shortfall placement, but the company remains pre-revenue and continues to fund exploration, permitting and technical studies.

Lazio moves towards a Q4 Scoping Study

Altamin says independent consultants have delivered the main inputs for the Lazio study, including a three-dimensional geothermal reservoir model, directional well design, process plant engineering, capital and operating cost estimates, logistics analysis and sales and marketing work. Micon International is now compiling the report, which the company expects to release in the fourth quarter of calendar 2026.

The project’s proposed process would use heat from the Cesano geothermal brines to drive mechanical evaporation, with the company positioning the closed-loop concept as a lower-water alternative to conventional sulphate of potash production. An independent market study concluded that Lazio’s low-chloride product could be suited to European and international horticultural and viticultural markets. Those claims remain development-stage propositions, however: the next steps include permitting and drilling two exploration boreholes to obtain live brine samples and flow data.

Government grant supports pilot plant development

The BRAIN research programme provides some financial relief. Altamin, RINA and the University of L’Aquila were awarded A$3.62 million in refundable eligible expenditure under Italy’s Mission Innovation programme, with the funding directed towards scaling a process intended to recover sulphate of potash, lithium and boron from geothermal brines. The partners have completed the pilot plant design and are moving towards equipment orders, with construction planned at the University of L’Aquila.

Altamin submitted a claim for about A$979,000 of directly refundable expenditure incurred to 30 June 2026, but that money had not been received at the reporting date. The grant is non-dilutive, although it does not remove the broader funding requirement attached to exploration wells, land access, surface rights and future study phases.

Gorno sale process remains unresolved

At the Gorno polymetallic project in northern Italy, Altamin is pursuing a strategic equity and sale process led by Argent Partners while keeping the asset in good standing. The company received a VIA environmental decree covering the Cime exploration licence, allowing approved exploration work and supporting future permitting applications. Altamin says the approval strengthens the project’s position, but it is explicit that there is no certainty a transaction will result.

That uncertainty matters because a Gorno transaction is one of the possible routes to funding and strategic concentration around Lazio. The project carries a JORC resource of 7.79 million tonnes at 6.8% zinc, 1.8% lead and 32 grams per tonne silver, but those figures were originally reported in 2021 and are not a new resource estimate in this annual report.

Shareholder support buys time, not certainty

After year end, an entity controlled by major shareholder Victor Smorgon Group provided an unsecured A$2.0 million cash advance facility, with an option to increase it by up to A$1.0 million. The facility is intended to support Lazio and Gorno, including securing long-term land access and surface rights around Cesano. The annual report nevertheless says Altamin will need to raise further funds through new equity or debt investment to meet its contracted and forecast expenditure.

The funding question is arriving alongside a management handover. Stephen Hills is leaving his roles as director, CFO and company secretary on 30 September, with Aviv Kirshenbaum due to join the board as a non-executive director from 1 October. The immediate test for Altamin is therefore unusually concrete: turn the completed study work into a credible Lazio development pathway before the cash and the latest shareholder-backed facility are consumed.