Liontown’s $266m Raise Sees Government Chip In

Glencore reported a down tick in earnings on coal weakness, First Quantum terms its debt

August 07, 2025

The Pre-Start

  • Glencore’s half-year report saw adjusted EBITDA of US$5.4B and EBIT of US$1.8B. It closed with US$14.4B in net debt. Adjusted EBITDA margins were 24% in metals, 35% in met coal and 18% in energy coal (GLEN.L)

  • MinRes advised that Justin Langer has resigned as a director, with Ross Carroll being appointed to lead the rem & people committee (MIN)

  • Lundin Gold shared exploration drilling from Fruta Del Norte, confirming the continuity of the system, with drilling 4km north uncovered a new porphyry system with mineralisation commencing at surface (LUG.TO)

  • NexGen locked in uranium offtake with a US utility for 1Mlbpa over 5 years, with market-related pricing (NXG)

  • Westgold issued FY26 guidance 345-385koz at an AISC of $2,600-2,900/oz + $270m in non-sustaining capital & $50m in exploration (WGX) 15-30koz from purchased 3rd party ore. Surely100% of NMG is more attractive than tolling?

  • IsoEnergy and Purepoint Uranium shared initial assays from their JV Dorado project, intercepting a 1m at 2.19% U3O8 from 329m (ISO.TO)

  • Black Canyon shared further manganese assays from Wandanya, claiming the results confirm consistent shallow, thick mineralisation similar to W2 (BCA)

High Grade It

  • Glencore’s Gary Nagle said he is willing to sell a stake in the Mt Isa smelter to federal and state governments if that’s the best way to secure its future (AFR), while defending the miner’s commitment to Australia (Australian)

  • Glencore will keel its listing in London, ruling out a New York move, with Nagle noting S&P 500 inclusion would’ve been unlikely (Bloomberg)

  • Former Test cricketer Justin Langer has quit the MinRes board, the latest in a string of departures (AFR)

  • Codelco filed a request to restart parts of its biggest copper mine in Chile after a deadly accident halted work (Bloomberg)

  • Brazil exported 41.1Mt of iron ore in July, breaking the country's previous record of 39.5Mt set in December 2015 (Reuters)

  • A years-long platinum supply crunch has led to banks scrambling for dwindling stocks as buyers in China & the US acquire as much as is available (Bloomberg)

  • General Matter, a U.S. startup hoping to enrich uranium for fueling nuclear reactors, signed a lease with the DoE to build a facility in Kentucky (Reuters)

Speedy mobilisation, high‑quality samples, precise execution — that’s K‑Drill in action. See what the team can do for you.

Wheelin’ n Dealin’

  • Dataroom has talked up the possibility of Agnico or Harmony acquiring Aussie gold miners, with Northern Star named as a potential target (Australian)

  • Piedmont shared an update Sayona merger timeline, with August 22nd the planned completion date (PLL) we’ve noticed plenty of efforts to rally PLL votes

  • Maronan signed an MoU with Austral to explore potential regional processing at Rocklands (MMA)

Rattlin’ the Tin

  • Liontown has pulled the trigger on an underwritten $266m at 73c, with the National Reconstruction Fund investing $50m (LTR, Presentation) conference call at 9am Perth time. More commentary in Devil’s in the Detail below

  • First Quantum has upsized its note offering to US$1B (due 2034, 7.25% coupon) and launched a tender to repurchase US$250m of its 2029 notes and US$750m of its 2027 notes - effectively extending its debt maturities (FM.TO)

  • Tivan’s Speewah fluorite project has received ~$3m from the ~$7m IPCM grant it was awarded late in 2024 (TVN)

  • Santana is in halt to raise capital (SMI)

  • Energy Transition Minerals has raised $10m, while acquiring the Penouta tin-tantalum-niobium mine & plant in Spain for $9m (ETM)

  • Ramaco announced a US$200m offering at $18.75 per share (METC.NAS)

Word on the Decline

  • On the back of the Philippines’ President's visit to India to meet with PM Modi this week, we hear that Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC), the sovereign wealth fund of Phillipines is set to announce a framework for them to co-fund development of copper projects in country alongside Adani, whose Kutch copper smelter began processing two months ago and is desperate for concentrate.

  • We recall that MIC agreed on preliminary funding for the MCB copper-gold project in February 2025 and wouldn’t be surprised to see this development signposted in the Adani framework

Do you have some Word on the Decline? Reply to this email or shoot a message to [email protected] directly. We will always take your privacy seriously.

In the Weeds

  • The mine lead-time fallacy (Andy Reynolds) very punchy

  • Diggers & Dealers recap by Roland Gotthard (LinkedIn) a frank read about a lot of themes from D&D

  • Rio moves to cut FIFO workers’ 3 months of sick leave to 12 days (AFR)

Were you forwarded this email from someone else?

Today’s Top Tweet

This short report on C$1.2B gold developer, Collective Mining has created a stir. Surprisingly the stock went up 5% overnight…

Reminder that we reported the key issue detailed in the short report ~6 weeks ago in Word on the Decline. Thankfully, the cease-and-desist letter didn’t make its way to Australia, but apparently others weren’t as fortunate.

Devil’s in the Detail

We think it could be lost on people that Gina Rinehart does not actually own 19.9% of Liontown.

After spoiling the Albemarle deal by buying stock on market at $3.00/sh, remember Liontown emerged with a capital raising at $1.80/sh just 8 days later. Well we always thought Gina must have participated pro rata in that raise and never went back to check, until recently.

She didn’t participate. She didn’t buy another share for $1.20/sh lower than she paid just 8 days earlier.

She got diluted to ~18% holding back then… and she’ll get diluted again now. Because we do not believe she’s participating in this capital raise at A$0.73/sh either…

Never fear though, the taxpayer is tipping in $50m! Equity stakes for the government. This is a new paradigm.

Where does all of this lead!?

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