Core Lithium’s Finniss Restart Clears Its First Major Production Hurdle

Finniss Restart Produces First Concentrate

Core Lithium Ltd (ASX:CXO) has reached the operational milestone that matters most in its staged Finniss restart: first spodumene concentrate has been produced, less than six months after the company approved its final investment decision. The dense media separation plant remains in commissioning and optimisation, however, and Core is targeting its first shipment of newly produced material in the December quarter.

The result confirms the progress outlined in the company’s first Finniss concentrate milestone, but it is not yet steady-state production. Mining at Grants resumed in May, the crushing circuit was recommissioned in August and ore stocks were built on the run-of-mine pad ahead of processing. Core said targeted plant upgrades are expected to lift throughput capacity by about 20% to 1.2 million tonnes a year, with installation of a reflux classifier still to come in FY27.

Cash Buffer Supports Ramp-Up Spending

Core finished the quarter with A$199.7 million in cash, up from A$181.8 million at 30 June. That balance was supported by A$62.2 million in net proceeds from the second tranche of convertible notes, A$35.7 million from the first drawdown of senior debt and further proceeds from the final lithium fines sale.

The funding arrived before any cash receipts from Grants production. Core reported no Grants revenue for the quarter, while operating activities used A$11.3 million and Finniss site capital works consumed A$50.8 million, mainly across BP33, plant upgrades and deferred stripping. The company said the funding package is now complete and Finniss is funded through to steady-state production in 2028, although the quarter’s cash flow illustrates the cost of reaching that point.

BP33 Development and Drilling Move Together

At BP33, underground and surface development continued towards the planned delivery of first development ore in mid-2027. The portal was completed, temporary power and ventilation were installed, and work advanced on ventilation rises, water infrastructure, the ROM pad and access roads.

Exploration added a second strand to the BP33 story. Drill hole NMRD100 returned 34.08 metres at 2.09% Li2O from 578.7 metres, including 3.43 metres at 2.44% Li2O, in mineralisation beyond the current 10.5 million tonne resource grading 1.53% Li2O. Follow-up drilling is planned down dip and along strike. The result extends the company’s high-grade BP33 drilling, but any resource growth remains subject to further drilling and estimation.

Stockpile Sales End as Production Takes Over

Core also completed the sale of its remaining roughly 25,000 tonnes of lithium fines to Glencore at a base price of about US$285 a tonne, or approximately A$400 a tonne, CIF, subject to adjustments. The transaction brought total revenue from stockpile sales in calendar 2026 to about A$38.5 million, completing the monetisation program previously built around the final lithium fines sale.

That source of liquidity is now exhausted. The next test is whether Finniss can convert its first concentrate into a timely shipment and then into recurring operating cash flow, while Core continues to fund BP33 and the remaining plant work. Blackbeard drilling, a 12,150-metre campaign intended to support a future maiden resource, is expected to finish in the December quarter.