- Albemarle Corporation continues to undertake due diligence for its proposed buy-out of Liontown Resources (LTR)
- Liontown heads the Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia
- The company appointed Monadelphous to install some 1200t of structural steel on-site to facilitate the construction of four downstream circuits, a tailings treatment plant, piping and electrics
- The contract is worth $100 million and will take nine months to complete
- LTR shares are up 1.5 per cent, trading at $3.05 at 12:47 pm AEST
Liontown Resources (LTR), currently facing a takeover from US lithium giant Albemarle, as well as Gina Rinehart, has appointed Monadelphous to undertake works on the downstream leg of its Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia.
In total, around 1200 tonnes of steel, 20,000 metres of piping, 200 platework items, four different downstream circuits, and tailings treatments will all be installed, among other items.
Earlier this month, Albemarle lobbed a $6.6 billion takeover offer at Liontown. Then, this week, the US corporation officially kicked off a four-month due diligence process.
Liontown had intended to generate early revenues by shipping ore directly from the site; at least, that was the plan in August before the takeover bid.
This isn’t the first time Albemarle has come knocking. The company offered $5.5 billion for Liontown back in March, and that offer was promptly shut down. So, they came back with $6.6 billion.
The fact that Albemarle has now initiated a proper due diligence process is a fairly solid indication that Liontown is willing to accept the $6.6 billion.
The appointment of Monadelphous, Liontown reported, allows it to exploit a vertically integrated approach to the construction of the project-critical wet materials downstream plant.
The value of the contract is around $100 million, including carbon steel pipe fabrication, reflecting a major construction milestone toward a fully operational Kathleen Valley.
The move follows Albemarle’s decision to kick off a four-week due diligence process earlier this week with a view toward its acquisition of Liontown Resources in its entirety.
The contract is set to span approximately nine months of work, meaning that should Albemarle move ahead with its decision to purchase, Monadelphous may find itself reporting to new owners before the contract is completed.
“Monadelphous has a large resources pool, experience in the hard rock lithium sector, and a proven track record of delivering large-scale multi-disciplinary projects in Western Australia, which came through strongly throughout the evaluation process,” LTR CEO Tony Ottaviano said.
“There is a clear line of sight to first spodumene production mid-next year.
“Their demonstrated skills … and professional reflects Liontown’s expectations of a partnership.”
LTR shares were up 1.5 per cent, trading at $3.05 at 12:47 pm AEST.