Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) shares are marching higher today.
Shares in the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) lithium miner closed yesterday trading for 37.0 cents. In early morning trade on Thursday, shares are changing hands for 37.5 cents apiece, up 1.4%.
For some context, the All Ords is down 0.4% at this same time.
Core Lithium shares are now up 443.5% since this time last year, smashing the 11.2% gains delivered by the benchmark index over this same period.
Today's outperformance follows the release of Core Lithium's March quarter update.
Here's what investors are mulling over.
Image source: Getty Images
Core Lithium shares rise on Finniss restart details
The highlight for the three months to 31 March, was the company's formal approval of the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the restart of operations at its Finniss Lithium Project, located in the Northern Territory.
The miner's flagship Finniss project was placed into care and maintenance back in January 2024. That came after global lithium prices crashed, making mining unprofitable and sending Core Lithium shares sharply lower.
Management noted that approval of the FID was proceeded by a comprehensive restart plan, updated mine planning, Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) work, and refined operating strategies. The new plan aims to reposition Finniss as a lower‑cost, long‑life lithium operation.
The ASX lithium miner said it used a "conservative" long‑term spodumene concentrate price assumption of US$1,500 per tonne CIF for the FID. That's well below the current spot price of around US$2,500 per tonne CIF.
Management is expecting strong returns with a three-year payback, a pre‑tax net present value (NPV) of $1.1 billion, and free cash flow generation of $1.7 billion. Additionally, Core Lithium noted that Finniss has an estimated 20-year mine life and 214,000 tonnes per year spodumene concentrate (6%) equivalent (SC6) nameplate production capacity.
And Core Lithium is well-funded for the restart, having secured fully funded $290 million in the March quarter, comprised of strategic partner funding and an institutional equity raise.
As at 31 March, the miner has a cash balance of $91.6 million.
What did management say?
Commenting on the quarterly progress helping lift Core Lithium shares today, managing director Paul Brown said, "The March quarter was a defining period for Core, with Final Investment Decision approval and a fully committed Funding Package secured to restart Finniss."
Brown added:
Work is now underway at Finniss, with the open pit mining contract awarded at Grants and BP33 box cut activities progressing in parallel. Our staged restart strategy is disciplined, low risk and capital efficient, with first ore from Grants targeted in the June quarter and first spodumene concentrate production from the DMS plant targeted in the September quarter.
