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Highlights

  • Mineral Resources is an Australian diversified resource company that mines and processes lithium, iron ore, and other commodities.
  • The company today shared a performance update for the fourth quarter of FY23
  • MIN anticipates that its lithium chemical capacity will double from Tier 1 resources in the next five years

Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) is a diversified resource company with operations in energy, iron ore, lithium and mining services across Western Australia.

The company today shared a performance update for the fourth quarter of FY23 and reported iron ore shipments of 4.3 wmt (wet metric tonne) at realised prices of AUD 91 a tonne. Its mining services production volumes were 58Mt during the quarter and totalled 248Mt for FY23, in line with revised guidance of 245-255 Mt. The company said all major approvals had been received for the Onslow Iron Project. The first ore-on-ship delivery from the project is expected in June 2024. Meanwhile, the company also announced a significant natural gas discovery at North Erregulla Deep-1. MIN completed the acquisition of Norwest Energy NL on 29 April 2023.

In the first half of the financial year 2023 (1HFY23), the company registered a profit after tax of AUD 390.10 million, 1,890% up year-on-year. Revenue during the same period grew by 74% over the previous corresponding period (pcp) to AUD 2,350.1 million. MIN said that financial growth was underpinned by record lithium earnings backed by the conversion of Mt Marion and Wodgina spodumene concentrate into lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate – lithium battery chemicals.

Total revenue in 1HFY23 grew by 74% over pcp to AUD 2,350 million, and underlying EBITDA jumped 50% over pcp to AUD 939 million.

Dividend

MinRes announces dividends on a semi-annual basis. The company had declared an interim dividend of AUD 1.20 apiece with an ex-date of 9 March 2023 and a pay date of 30 March 2023. The distribution was 100% franked.

Top 10 shareholders of MIN

The top 10 shareholders of MIN form around 28.56% of the company’s total shareholding. Most shares are held by Ellison (Christopher James) and Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), with shareholdings of 11.46% and 2.83%, respectively.

Recent business update

Through an ASX update dated 20 July 2023, MinRes informed that changes have been introduced in the terms of the agreement inked with Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) in February 2023. With the amendments, the commercial arrangements between the two companies under MARBL joint venture will simplify and provide flexibility for both parties.

As per the amendments, MIN is not required to invest in Chinese conversion assets with Albemarle. Also, MIN will not pay Albemarle for joint downstream investments.

Outlook

MinRes anticipates that its lithium chemical capacity will double from Tier 1 resources in the next five years, and it expects to respond positively to growing lithium demand.

The company is also engaged in strengthening its onshore exploration program through renewable projects.

Share performance of MIN

MIN shares closed at AUD 73.820 per share, 4.05% higher than the previous close on 25 July 2023. Including today’s gain, the share price has increased by 49.99% in the past 12 months and recorded a fall of 21.63% in the last six months.

The 52-week high of MIN is AUD 96.97 per share, which is 23.87% higher than today’s closing price. . The 52-week low is AUD 47.980 per share, which is 56.76% lower than today’s closing price.

Note 1: Past performance is neither an Indicator nor a guarantee of future performance. 

Note 2: The reference date for all price data, and currency, is 26 July 2023. The reference data in this report has been partly sourced from REFINITIV.