You are even looking at this in wrong direction. This is a star...

You are even looking at this in wrong direction. This is a star project and you are trying to make it compare to cashcows.

Actually Steve is not wrong about this being the only sustainable lithium DLE project. If you look at ASN or VUL they both have very low lithium concentration in their brine. The DLE process is so simple the effeciency is linear to the lithium concentration. Only variable of cost is the energy used to pump the water through. LKE has some strength over its peers, the lilac process is pretty much tuned to LKE brine right now, the concentration of lake resource is higher than its peers. the lilac advantage is probably 6 months time worth, so pick up quickly, or if the process is tested, it can be easily adapted by cashcow producers like ORE. I don't know why the management is so slow reacting to the situation, the time window for this project to work is pretty small.

Another thing is LKE is a star project, high cost is always be its issue as a first goer. so it needs to seek fund from star investors not banks or Ganfeng, they are cashcow oriented. A small scale project with full solar power + tesla battery and new technology for tesla or German car makers to showoff their environmental concerns and demonstration of technology is easy to start, a 1bn AUD project just too expensive.