The Lake Resources (ASX: LKE) share price is outpacing the benchmark today.
Shares in the embattled All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) lithium stock closed on Friday trading for 4 cents. In morning trade on Monday, shares are changing hands for, well, 4 cents apiece, leaving them flat at time of writing.
That's a good bit better than the 0.7% loss posted by the All Ords at this same time, however.
Here's what's happening.
ASX lithium share finds support amid major cost cuts
The Lake Resources share price is holding its own after the company released a strategic operational update on its flagship Kachi lithium project, located in Argentina.
The ASX lithium miner reported that its Goldman Sachs-led partnering process for Kachi is continuing. Management said they have progressed from reviewing a broad range of potential partners to participating in detailed discussions with a select group of interested parties.
Investors are supporting the Lake Resources share price after the miner acknowledged that the partnership process, intended to maximise Kachi's value, will take longer than initially expected in light of the current market conditions.
Commenting on the partnership process, Lake Resources CEO David Dickson said, "We continue to engage with interested parties as part of the strategic partnering process for Kachi."
Dickson added:
We, along with industry analysts across the sector, see a structural deficit of battery-grade lithium in the next five years. Because of that, we are taking all necessary actions to secure our financial flexibility, ensuring we maximise value for our shareholders from the Goldman led strategic process.
The ASX lithium miner said that in order to support the value of its strategic partnering process to secure equity investment and offtake agreements, the non-binding conditional framework agreements entered into in late 2022 with WMC Energy and SK On Co are not being progressed.
The company also reported it is managing an ongoing process to potentially sell some of its non-core assets and lithium tenements.
Commenting on the asset sales that could help support the Lake Resources share price, Dickson noted:
These assets, while non-core to Lake's strategy, are strategically located within the Lithium Triangle and offer exploration and development potential in close proximity to other known lithium resources.
In order to focus our efforts on making Kachi a success, we believe the timing is right for marketing the sale of these assets, which is part of our plan to optimise the Company's financial runway.
This supports the work we have done over the past 18 months and the successful completion of the Definitive Feasibility Study showing that Kachi is a globally significant, tier-one project.
And on the cost-cutting front, the miner said it will reduce its global workforce by more than 50%.
As at 31 March, Lake Resources had a cash balance of $31 million.
Lake Resources share price snapshot
It's been a tough year for the Lake Resources share price, down 87% over the past 12 months.
