Lithium Plus Minerals (ASX: LPM) Shares Extend Losses: What’s Happening?

Sonal Goyal

20 October 2026 03:07 PM AEDT

Lithium Plus Minerals (ASX: LPM) Shares Extend Losses: What’s Happening?

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Key highlights

Lithium Plus Minerals (ASX:LPM) shares fell 12.50% to $0.105 during the Trading session on 20 October 2026.
The Lei Scoping Study outlined a six-year direct shipping ore operation with project Capital of A$87.7 million and post-tax NPV8% of A$325 million.
The study is preliminary, and it assumes a lithium price of US$350 per tonne on a 1.5% Li2O basis.

During the trading session on 20 October 2026, shares of Lithium Plus Minerals Ltd (ASX:LPM) fell 12.50% to $0.105. The company also announced the results of the Scoping Study for its 100%-owned Lei Lithium Project in the Northern Territory that day. The study outcomes are reported below as stated in the announcement and are not linked in this article to the share price move.

About Lithium Plus Minerals Ltd

Lithium Plus Minerals is an ASX-listed explorer based in Sydney. Its Lei Lithium Project sits within the Bynoe Pegmatite Field on the Cox Peninsula in the Northern Territory, about 80 kilometres by road from Darwin Port. The project is on a granted 20-year Mining lease, and the existing resource is 5.22 million tonnes at 1.50% Li2O for 78.42 kilotonnes of contained Li2O, reported at a 0.5% cut-off, of which 54% is Indicated and 46% Inferred.

Study design

The study evaluates a staged development starting with a low capital intensity direct shipping ore (DSO) operation. It uses contractor-operated underground long-hole open stoping and contractor-supplied mobile crushing and screening, with lithium-bearing pegmatite crushed to 75 millimetres on site, trucked to Darwin Port and exported.

The production target is 3.52 million tonnes at 1.37% Li2O for 48,400 tonnes of contained Li2O over a six-year mine life, at a mining rate of 750,000 tonnes per annum. The mine plan is 57% Indicated and 43% Inferred, while production in the first two years is drawn entirely from Indicated resources.

Forecast economics

The study reports a post-tax NPV at an 8% discount rate of A$325 million and a post-tax internal rate of return of 75.4%, with payback of 1.8 years from first production. Life-of-mine Revenue is A$1,613 million and EBITDA is A$907 million. Project capital is A$87.7 million including 15% contingency, and sustaining capital is A$129.6 million, funded from operating cash flow.

The All-In Sustaining Cost is A$238 per tonne of DSO delivered CIF China. The study assumes a DSO price of US$350 per tonne on a 1.5% Li2O basis, an Exchange Rate of 0.70 and a Northern Territory Royalty of 7.5%.

Approvals and commercial pathway

A Supplementary Environmental Report was lodged in September 2026, and environmental approval is targeted for the first quarter of calendar 2027. The company holds a non-binding Heads of Agreement with Darwin Port Operations and a non-binding offtake memorandum with Canmax covering 50% of Lei DSO and spodumene concentrate, plus a non-binding framework agreement on a proposed processing hub.

The study supports progression to a Pre-Feasibility Study. Subject to that outcome, a maiden Ore Reserve, approvals and funding, a Final Investment Decision is targeted for the second quarter of calendar 2027, with construction in the third quarter.

Sector backdrop

Lithium prices have been volatile, and direct shipping ore projects aim to lower capital needs by exporting crushed ore instead of building a processing plant. The Northern Territory has an operating lithium mine in the same pegmatite field, which provides regional context for logistics and permitting.

Scoping studies are early-stage assessments, and results usually change as more detailed engineering and testing is completed.

Risks shareholders should weigh

The study states it is preliminary and based on low-level technical and economic assessments insufficient to support Ore Reserves or to assure economic viability. No Ore Reserve has been declared, and 43% of the mine plan is Inferred.

The forecasts depend on a lithium price assumption that may not be realised. The agreements with Darwin Port and Canmax are non-binding. Initial capital of A$87.7 million has no committed funding, and the company says financing may be dilutive to existing shares. Environmental approval is still pending. At $0.105, the 12.50% fall on 20 October 2026 shows the Volatility of small-cap lithium shares.

What’s next

The company is targeting environmental approval in the first quarter of calendar 2027, a Pre-Feasibility Study, a maiden Ore Reserve and project funding, with a Final Investment Decision in the second quarter of 2027 and construction in the third quarter. Resource conversion and extension drilling are under way.

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