A new growth frontier in lithium brine
Location
Salta Province, Argentina
Resource type
Lithium brine
Area
14,577 hectares
Interest
Staged farm-in to earn up to 100%
Partner
NEXT Lithium Corp.
Investment
Up to US$40 million project expenditure over four years
Through a staged farm-in with NEXT Lithium Corp., we have the opportunity to earn up to 100% of the Centenario lithium brine exploration project in Salta Province, Argentina.
This opens a potential new growth frontier in brine alongside our Tier-1 Kathleen Valley hard rock operation in Western Australia.
Location
The Centenario project is located in Salta Province, Argentina, in a prospective area for lithium brines. It sits in close geographic proximity to the Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes project and the Centenario-Ratones operation.
Why lithium brine
Brine is one of the two principal sources of the world’s lithium. Centenario gives us early, low-cost access to a prospective brine district alongside an experienced Argentine partner, and complements our established hard rock operation at Kathleen Valley.
While Kathleen Valley remains our core focus, our strategy is to expand and develop our portfolio of lithium projects to realise the full potential of the Company. The staged structure preserves capital discipline: our exposure scales with results, and further investment remains subject to results and market conditions.
Our partner: NEXT lithium
NEXT Lithium’s founder has developed lithium brine assets in Argentina before, co-founding Millennial Lithium, which was subsequently acquired by Lithium Americas in 2022.
Partnering with the NEXT Lithium team gives us the opportunity to build our brine capability from the early stages of exploration.
A staged pathway to 100%
The farm-in agreement establishes a staged structure under which we may progressively increase our interest in the project, funding project expenditure and making associated payments as the project advances.
Initial consideration
US$5 million in cash and US$10 million in Liontown shares, for the grant of the farm-in rights
Phase 1
We may earn a 49% interest by funding US$15 million of project expenditure over 24 months
Phase 2
Within 90 days of earning 49%, we may elect to increase our interest to 51% through a further payment of US$15 million
Phase 3
We may increase our interest to 75% by funding a further US$25 million of project expenditure over 24 months
Phase 4
Subject to reaching 75%, we would acquire the remaining interest to take us to 100%, for consideration of up to US$125 million determined by the resource estimate at that time
“Brine is one of the two primary sources of the world’s lithium, and this is our first step in building real understanding and capability in it.”
Tony Ottaviano, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
What happens next
An initial US$15 million work program is planned over the first 12 to 24 months.
This includes a drilling campaign targeting anomalies identified by a transient electromagnetic (TEM) survey already completed across the project.
More information
Liontown to earn up to 100% of the Centenario lithium brine project in Argentina
1 September 2026
