Mothballed NT lithium operation to restart

Dyno Nobel (ASX: DNL) has sold it Phosphate Hill site in north west Queensland to Mayfair Corporation for an initial purchase price of $1 and a deferred consideration of up to $100m.Dyno Nobel had previously said that if a sale was not completed by March 31, it would progress cease operations at Phosphate Hill by 30 September 2026.This announcement came after the company reported a $149.1m after-tax impairment on the asset last year.Located 140km south east of Mount Isa, Phosphate Hill’s acid plant is critical to operations at Glencore’s Mount Isa copper smelter and its closure would significantly affect smelter operations.Sulphur dioxide produced as a byproduct at Mount Isa is processed into sulphuric acid, which is then sent to Phosphate Hill for fertiliser production.Queensland Natural resources and Mines Minister Dale Last says recent geopolitical events have reinforced the importance of protecting Queensland’s sovereign fertiliser manufacturing capability.“These assets are too important to our agricultural sector, our supply chains and our economic security to take for granted,” he said.The symbiotic relationship between Phosphate Hill and the Mount Isa smelter supports more than 1000 jobs across the region, according to the Queensland Government.Dyno Nobel chief executive and managing director Mauro Neves says the sale is an important milestone that concludes the company’s separation from the fertiliser business.“I am very pleased that our talented teams in Phosphate Hill, Mount Isa and Townsville will continue to provide Australian farmers with a secure domestic source of fertilisers supply,” he said.Mayfair will assume ownership of the Phosphate Hill operations from April 1. The privately held Australian energy and resources company currently operates the Top Camp gold project in Cloncurry, about 150km north of the Phosphate Hill site.

Fortescue (ASX: FMG) expects to save US$100m in fossil fuel costs next year as it fast-tracks its delivery of a fully integrated green energy grid. Unlike other large renewable hubs, which feed intermittently into national or other power systems, Fortescue’s off-grid system is expected to be the largest of its kind dedicated to decarbonising major industry. Fortescue anticipates the 290MW of installed renewable capacity to meet the fixed energy requirements of its ore processing facilities, enabling daytime “green processing” across its Pilbara operations, by early 2027. The system is expected to ramp up to power all of Fortescue’s operations for 24-hour periods completely without fossil fuels by the end of 2027 — well ahead of the companies previous Real Zero by 2030 target. Fortescue is expecting full completion of its Pilbara green grid by the end of 2028, which includes 1.2GW of solar capacity, more than 600MW of wind generation and 4-5GWh of battery energy storage. Fortescue says the deployment of its accelerated green grid infrastructure timeline has commenced within its approved decarbonisation budget.  At the completion of its decarbonisation program, Fortescue expects to demonstrate that eliminating fossil fuels is not only achievable but economically superior by achieving a further reduction in C1 unit costs of at least US$2 - 4/wmt. Fortescue sees a clear pathway to expand its green energy system by a further approximately 2GW of power generation capacity, firmed with 4GWh of advanced batteries. This would be enabled by Fortescue’s proprietary know-how, patented technologies and exclusively developed AI, and is expected to be delivered for less than US$2.5b.  The company anticipates this capacity could be progressively delivered over an 18- month timeframe — an unprecedented delivery of firmed energy generation in speed to market, capital costs and operating costs. The company has also marked another major operation milestone with the shipment of its 2.5 billionth tonne of iron ore. 

Liontown Limited (ASX: LTR) has signed an offtake agreement for 150,000wmtpa of spodumene concentrate with world-leading lithium manufacturer Canmax Technologies.The agreement assures the supply of spodumene concentrate over 2027 and 2028 from Liontown’s Kathleen Valley project in WA.

Lynas Rare Earths (ASX: LYC) has signed a binding letter of intent with the US Department of War to finalise a four-year rare earth oxide offtake agreement. Under the agreement, Lynas will allocate $137m worth of rare earth oxides to support US supply chain resilience objectives with an established floor price for supply of US$110/kg for neodymium and praseodymium. This offtake agreement follows the mutual decision to modify the original agreement between Lynas and the DoW based on significant uncertainty as to whether the construction of the heavy rare earth (HRE) processing facility at Seadrift, Texas would proceed. Lynas chief executive and managing director Amanda Lacaze says, through the agreement, the US Defense Industrial Base will continue to have access to rare earth oxides essential for modern manufacturing. “We thank the US Government for working with Lynas to reach this mutually beneficial arrangement and look forward to finalising the definitive agreement in due course and continuing our productive engagement," she said. Lynas and the DoW continue to discuss further supply arrangement for HRE oxides.  Last week, Lynas extended its rare earths supply deal with Japan Australia Rare Earths (JARE) through to 2038 and established a floor of US$110/kg for neodymium and praseodymium — identical to that set in the DoW agreement.  As the world’s only significant producer of separated rare earth materials outside of China, Lynas is strategically important to diversifying the global supply of rare earths. This significance has been bolstered by the company’s H1 FY26 results in which the company reported a 63% rise in revenue for $413.7m — Lynas’ best first-half profit in three years.  Lynas saw the average price of all its rare earth products rose to $96/kg during the half, a trend that continued in 2026 with neodymium and praseodymium reaching a domestic price of $157 /kg in China.