ASX-listed Elevra Lithium has secured a sizable financing package of up to A$441-million to fully fund the accelerated expansion of its North American lithium operations and advance development work at its Moblan lithium project in Québec, Canada.

This package includes a fully underwritten A$275-million institutional placement, a A$146-million strategic convertible notes investment from independent investment fund Canada Growth Fund (CGF) and a share purchase plan aimed at raising up to A$20-million from existing shareholders.

This financing strengthens Elevra’s balance sheet during a period of significant capital deployment to ensure that there is sufficient flexibility to manage construction risk, commodity price volatility and working capital requirements.

It also delivers full funding certainty for critical Moblan technical and pre-development workstreams through to a financial investment decision (FID), thereby positioning the project for disciplined progression towards development.

The strategic financing package has been structured to provide Elevra with a high degree of funding certainty and balance sheet flexibility through a transformational phase of growth. Together, the fully underwritten placement, strategic convertible notes investment and share purchase plan will fully fund the NAL Brownfield Expansion project in Québec, Canada, alongside key Moblan technical and pre-development activities through to FID while maintaining prudent liquidity and optionality through market cycles.

The participation of CGF in the convertible notes establishes a strategic partnership and represents a strong validation of Elevra’s assets and growth strategy.

“One of CGF’s core objectives is to capitaliae on Canada’s abundance of natural resources while supporting projects that mobilise private capital. By supporting the staged expansion of Canada’s largest operating lithium mine, this proposed investment reinforces Canada’s role in the North American battery materials value chain and supports jobs and industrial competitiveness in Québec,” says Canada Growth Fund president and CEO Yannick Beaudoin.

Meanwhile Elevra MD and CEO Lucas Dow says the funding package marks a major turning point for the company as it accelerates production growth and advances its longer-term pipeline.

“This financing marks a key inflection point for Elevra, delivering full funding certainty across the three stages of the NAL Brownfield Expansion while preserving balance sheet flexibility at a critical point in our growth trajectory. With strong strategic support from Canada Growth Fund, we are well positioned to execute our near-term growth plans, materially increasing production scale while reducing unit costs.

“Together with advancing Moblan toward development, this transaction sets the stage to fundamentally reshape Elevra into a larger, more resilient, globally competitive lithium producer,” Dow says.

Further, Elevra has also announced that it has brought back and terminated a spodumene concentrate offtake agreement linked to the Moblan lithium project that was previously held by an investment vehicle managed by Canada-based asset manager Waratah Capital Advisors. Elevra owns 60% of the Moblan lithium project with the remaining 40% owned by provincially owned financing operation Investissement Québec.

Elevra and Waratah executed an agreement to terminate the offtake agreement and related delivery obligations and in consideration of the termination, Elevera has agreed to issue Waratah $5-million in Elevra Lithium ordinary shares at anissue price of A$12.20 a share and $0.5-million in options at the same issue prices which are exercisable at a 50% premium to the issue price of Elevra’s ordinary shares issued under this agreement.

“The original agreement represented a life of mine commitment at a discounted market price. As we explore developing Moblan as a larger project, the ability to purchase the Moblan offtake presented an opportunity to enhance the long-term economics and strategic flexibility of the project. This was achieved through an equity-based transaction which preserves cash as we advance development planning,” Dow says.

Elevra also released an updated scoping study for the expansion of its North American Lithium (NAL) mine in Québec, outling a faster growth pathway and improved project economics.

The study showed that additional spodumene concentrate production could be achieved two years earlier than previously planned, while maintaining similar operating costs and unchanged total capital expenditure of $270-million.

The expansion project’s post-tax net present value more than doubled to C$969-million, with expanded production expected to reach 338 000 t/y and the life-of-mine extending to 21 years.

Moreover, this expansion will be rolled out in three phases, starting with a 15% to 20% increase in spodumene concentrate production by mid-2027 through debottlenecking initiatives within the mine’s exisiting milling permit limits.

A second phase is expected to lift processing capacity to 6 500 t/d and increase production to 338 000 t/y by early 2028, before a final crushing circuit upgrade in 2029 aimed at improving long-term, operating efficiencies and lowering life-of-mine costs.

“As global lithium demand continues to grow, the Updated Scoping Study, combined with the technical and operational knowledge gained on site, reinforces our confidence in NAL’s expansion pathway and highlights a clear opportunity to deliver sustainable long-term value,” Dow concludes.