Twelve months ago, Mineral Resources Limited was cutting 190 roles at Mt Marion as spodumene bottomed below US$620 per tonne SC6.

Chart showing the lithium price recovery that drove the Mt Marion FID: SC6 spodumene rising from below US$620/t at the mid-2025 cycle low to approximately US$2,700/t today. At current prices, the expansion repays in under 12 months.

Today, Mineral Resources Limited and Ganfeng Lithium have committed to a full brownfield expansion: flotation plant, underground development, installed capacity up from 500ktpa to 600ktpa SC6, recovery towards 70%, transition to a single SC5 product.

The payback arithmetic at US$2,700/t SC6 is under 12 months.

What this FID confirms is not just the economics. It confirms the sequencing.

MinRes agreed to sell POSCO a 30% stake in its operational lithium business at Wodgina and Mt Marion for US$765 million earlier this year. They restarted Bald Hill this month after 18 months on care and maintenance. Now they are committing FY27 and FY28 capex at the same asset where they decommissioned 110 pieces of mobile equipment not long ago.

Three capital decisions in a compressed window, all moving in the same direction.

The investors and corporate development teams who were tracking that sequencing in real time — who had the price curve, the JV mechanics, the production ramp data, and the peer comps available and structured before the FID landed — were positioned to act.

The rest are reading the announcement. Less searching. More strategising.™

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