The Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price is up 11.54% to 14 cents this week amid a rebound in the lithium carbonate price.
The ASX lithium share also reached a new 52-week high of 16 cents yesterday.
This follows a 9% rise in the lithium carbonate price over the past month to a two-month high of US$11,236 per tonne.
The lithium price hit a 52-week high above US$12,000 per tonne in late August.
Analysts at Trading Economics said an improved demand outlook had pushed the lithium price higher.
The Chinese government signaled its latest support to the electric vehicle industry and lithium-rich energy storage systems with compensation mechanisms for power storage infrastructure, doubling EV charging capacity to 180 gigawatts by 2027.
Meanwhile, output of new energy vehicles in China rose by 20.3% annually in September, the highest since the start of the year.
Consequently, industry data showed that lithium inventories for downstream sectors fell for a third straight week.
What's happening with Core Lithium's flagship project?
Core Lithium placed its Finniss Project into care and maintenance in 2024 due to flailing commodity prices.
Commodity values fell due to greater global production and lower demand for electric vehicles.
Core Lithium spent FY25 conducting a restart study, which identified ways to reduce mining costs by 40% and processing costs by 33%.
CEO Paul Brown said the study also found ways to reduce pre-production capital expenditures by 29%.
Core Lithium revealed a more profitable operating model for a future restart of Finniss in its annual report in September.
Financial planning
In August, Core Lithium undertook a $50 million institutional capital raising at 10.5 cents per Core Lithium share.
It also offered a $10 million share purchase plan (SPP), which received $4.3 million in commitments.
The miner said it would use the new funds to advance Finniss to a Final Investment Decision (FID).
In September, Core Lithium announced it had paid US$2 million to terminate its final offtake agreement with Chinese giant, Ganfeng Lithium Group Co Ltd (SHE: 002460) early. This will enable it to sell future spodumene production to other clients on the spot market.
In its latest quarterly report, Core Lithium reported a cash balance of $35.9 million as of 30 September, up from $23.5 million on 30 June, excluding the impact of the capital raise.
Brown said:
The $50 million Placement, together with the $4.3 million SPP, has strengthened our balance sheet and enables us to accelerate critical early works.
With all legacy offtake obligations resolved, 100% of future Finniss production is unencumbered, providing maximum flexibility for the
strategic funding process.We are well-capitalised and focused on advancing Finniss towards restart and a Final Investment Decision.
Own less than $500 in shares? Core Lithium to sell your shares next month
Last week, Core Lithium revealed the establishment of a small share sale facility to get rid of minor shareholdings worth less than $500.
This impacts shareholders who owned a parcel of Core Lithium shares worth less than $500 as at the market close on 22 October.
On this date, the closing Core Lithium share price was 11 cents.
That means any investor who owns 4,545 or fewer Core Lithium shares is captured in the small share sale process.
The miner said the small share sale facility will affect 27,279 investors who hold 45,290,705 shares, representing 1.7% of the stock on issue.
Core Lithium will sell the investors' shares for them, unless they object before 16 December, and send them the proceeds via cheque.
The company is allowed to do this under clause 3 (Minimum Shareholding) of its constitution and under ASX Listing Rules.
Core Lithium reasons that the sale facility will reduce its administrative costs.
In a letter to shareholders, Core Lithium said:
The Facility is being conducted to enable the Company to substantially reduce the administrative cost of managing small shareholdings and to provide investors with small holdings an opportunity to dispose of their holdings in the Company in a cost-effective manner.
The Company will bear all costs, including brokerage related to sales under the Facility (although any tax consequences from the sale of your shares will be your responsibility).
Core Lithium will sell investors' shares at a yet-to-be-determined price, explaining:
The price at which shares will be sold will be determined by market conditions after the Closing Date of the Facility and may be different from the market price prevailing at the time.
All shareholders who sell their shares through the Facility will receive the same price per share.
Looking for new financial partners
Core Lithium is now looking for new financial partners so it can reopen Finniss when market conditions improve.
In September, non-executive chair Greg English said:
We are not yet at a point where we could consider restarting the operation. Any decision in this regard will be subject to securing an attractive project financing solution and market conditions, amongst other factors.
In October, the company released its quarterly activities report, and noted "strong interest received to date through the strategic funding process with engagement from a range of high quality strategic investors and financial groups".
Core Lithium also reported a 42% increase in the total Finniss Ore Reserves to 15.2Mt at 1.26% lithium peroxide.
