Ann: E25 HPMSM project selected for US$166M DoE Grant, page-98

Yep, these two are in a different situation because their grants ended up being a smaller percentage of the project due to increasing capital costs and for probably both but at least PLL they didn't have any pre-organised debt layer in the funding structure. They may get some debt but if the capital cost were to blow out further to $1b for a Hydroxide plant (distinctly possible), the funding picture may have become 15% Grant, perhaps 35% loan, 50% equity. Flipping to loans at possibly 65% loan, 35% equity mix would lower the capital raise/other project profits necessary to get the projects into production. In addition to size, the loan terms from the government are almost certainly going to be on-average more favourable than private lenders. They may even be better on all three dimensions of interest rates, repayment profile and covenant thresholds.

If any of that non-US loan 35% could be funded via other debt options then the residual equity required shrinks further. In the case of PLL it starts to become the potential profits from the NAL off-take in a high Spod price scenario but unfortunately for PLL high spod prices didn't last quite long enough. I can see my both flipped by that was in relation to their situations.

They are different but some in the market may have simplistically lumped them as being the same and reaching the view E25 wouldn't secure the Grant and would also flip to loans. If E25 flipped to loans the debt levels would be eye-wateringly high but with a Grant boosting equity, debt levels aren't actually too bad despite at this point not raising "equity" towards the project.