Highlights

  • Onslow Iron Ore Project ramp-up advancing, targeting 35 million tonnes per annum production
  • Lithium operations maintained with optionality as prices await recovery from 2023-2025 downcycle
  • Debt reduction the key FY2026 management priority alongside iron ore volume ramp
  • Mining services division continues to provide recurring revenue and margin resilience

Mineral Resources Limited (ASX:MIN), with shares at A$28.88 as at 30 October 2026, is navigating one of the most operationally complex periods in its history, managing the ramp-up of the major Onslow Iron Ore Project while simultaneously managing its lithium business through a prolonged downcycle in lithium prices and focusing management attention on reducing the debt levels accumulated to fund its large capital programs in recent years.

Onslow Iron Ore Project: The Growth Engine

The Onslow Iron Ore Project represents MinRes's most significant capital commitment and its primary growth driver for the medium term. The project involves the development of the Ashburton Hub iron ore deposits in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with ore transported via a new 150-kilometre private haul road to a new iron ore transhipment facility at Onslow on the north-west coast of Western Australia. MinRes chose a transhipment model rather than constructing a full export port, which reduced the capital cost and construction timeline. The project targets a production rate of 35 million tonnes per annum of iron ore at nameplate capacity. Ramp-up to full production rates was underway through 2025 and 2026, with first shipment milestones achieved as the project commissioned its transhipment infrastructure.

Lithium Business: Managing Through the Downcycle

MinRes is one of Australia's largest lithium miners through its ownership interests in the Wodgina lithium mine (jointly operated with Albemarle) and the Mount Marion lithium project (jointly operated with Ganfeng). Both projects produce spodumene concentrate for sale into the lithium chemical supply chain. Lithium prices experienced a severe correction from peak levels in 2022-2023, falling through 2024 and into 2025 before stabilising at lower levels. MinRes management took a series of actions to manage costs and cash flows through the downturn, including care and maintenance decisions at some operations and reduction of capital expenditure to minimise cash burn at lower spodumene prices. The Company has maintained its lithium assets in a state from which they can be reactivated as market conditions improve.

Debt Reduction: The Critical Management Priority

MinRes accumulated substantial debt during the capital-intensive phase of building and developing the Onslow Iron Ore Project alongside its lithium expansions. As production from Onslow ramps up and generates cash flow, management has identified debt reduction as the primary capital allocation priority. The Company has also been exploring asset recycling opportunities, including the partial sale of stakes in its infrastructure and project assets, as a means of accelerating debt repayment and reducing balance sheet leverage. Management's credibility in executing the deleveraging program is a key factor in investor confidence in the MinRes investment thesis at current share price levels.

Mining Services: Recurring Revenue Anchor

MinRes's Mining Services division provides contract mining, crushing, and processing services to third-party resources companies as well as to MinRes's own operations. The division provides a stable, recurring revenue stream that partially offsets the commodity price sensitivity of the Company's iron ore and lithium segments. Mining Services generates revenue from the tonnes of material processed on behalf of clients regardless of commodity prices, providing an element of earnings stability that differentiates MinRes from a pure commodity producer.