Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Tim Gorder, and I'm the Chair of Liontown Resources. I would like to begin by welcoming all our shareholders and supporters and acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we operate, including the Tjiwarl people on whose land the Kathleen Valley operation sits. It is now 11:00 A.M., and I'm advised that a quorum is present. I therefore declare the meeting open. I would like to advise that all shareholders in the room should now have registered to vote and have signed the attendance register. If you have not registered or have not received a voting card, one of those, please do so now at the registration desk. This year, we are webcasting our AGM, so people who are unable to join us in person are able to follow the proceedings.
This is not a hybrid AGM, so viewers online will not be able to participate in the formal business. However, for those watching online, the webcast does have functionality to submit questions, which we can address at the conclusion of Tony's CEO address. If you have any questions, submit them online, and we will endeavour to answer them. For those in the room, a roving microphone will be available for you to participate in Q&A. I would like to introduce my fellow directors, Tony Ottaviano, Ian Wells, Jennifer Morris, Shane McLeay, and Adrienne Parker, together with our Company Secretary, Clint McGee. Our executive team are also here in attendance. In the front row, we have our Chief Commercial Officer, Grant Donald, Interim Chief Financial Officer, Graeme Pettit, and I also welcome for the first AGM our new Chief Operating Officer, Ryan Hair, and new Chief People Officer, Lisa Breen.
Wendy Turner is here from Computershare to oversee the polling process. The company's auditors for the financial year ending 30 June 2025, Deloitte, are present and will be available to answer any questions relevant to the conduct of the audit, the preparation and the content of the audit report, accounting policies adopted by the company, and the independence of the auditor in relation to the conduct of the audit. We now move to the formal part of the meeting, which will be followed by my chairman's address and a presentation by our Managing Director, Tony Ottaviano. As the notice of meeting and the explanatory memorandum have been made available to all shareholders, I propose that the notice convening the meeting be taken as read. I confirm that as Chairman of the 2024 AGM, I signed last year's minutes as a true and correct record of the proceedings at that meeting.
I advise that valid proxy totals for each resolution are displayed on the screen behind me. A number of the proxies received were left open to the proxy holder's discretion. For those that were left to the chairman's discretion, I intend to vote in favor of all resolutions as stated in the notice of meeting. The first item of business is to receive and consider the company's annual report for the year ended June 2025, which includes the financial report, the director's report, auditor's report, and sustainability report. The subject of the company's annual report is now open for discussion. Are there any questions in relation to the company's annual report?
Are there any questions to be put to the auditor relevant to the conduct of the audit, the preparation, and content of the auditor's report, including key audit matters, the accounting policies adopted by the company, or the independence of the auditor? I thought we'd get one on fees, but we haven't. Thank you. Thank you very much for your participation, for your work on that big report we've got these days. We note that there is no requirement for shareholders to approve the annual report. Ladies and gentlemen, we have seven resolutions to deal with today. In accordance with the ASX guidance, voting will be conducted by a poll. Wendy Turner of Computershare has been appointed as returning officer for the poll. I will now call on Wendy to explain the voting procedures.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We will now conduct the poll of the motions number one to seven. Firstly, if there is any person present who believes that they are entitled to vote but has not yet registered to vote, would you please raise your hand for assistance? The persons entitled to vote on the poll are all shareholders, representatives and attorneys of shareholders, and proxy holders who hold a green voting card. On the reverse of your green voting card is your voting paper, which details the motions being put to this poll.
I will now go through the procedures for filling out the voting papers, and if you are a proxy holder, sorry, and have only directed votes for and/or against, as shown on the summary of votes, which will be attached to your admission card, all you need to do is print your name on the voting paper and lodge it in the ballot box. You must lodge your voting paper for your votes to be counted. If you are a proxy holder with open votes, you need to mark a box beside the motion to indicate how you wish to cast any open votes. Shareholders also need to mark a box beside the motion to indicate how you wish to cast your votes.
Please ensure that you print your name where indicated on the voting paper, and when you've finished filling in the voting paper, please lodge it in a ballot box. Please raise your hand if you require any assistance during the voting, and I shall now hand back to the Chair to open the poll. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thanks very much, Wendy. The resolutions will be displayed on the screen behind me. I do not intend to read each resolution in full as they are set out in the notice of meeting. I declare that the polling process is now open. Resolution One regarding the adoption of the remuneration report is displayed on the screen behind me. The Corporations Act provides that a resolution for the adoption of the remuneration report must be put to vote at the company's AGM. As shareholders will appreciate, the vote is non-binding but, of course, persuasive. Are there any questions in the remuneration report? Please cast your votes for Resolution One. Resolution Two relates to the re-election of Shane McLeay as a director and is displayed on the screen behind me. Shane is a non-exec director.
Further details of Shane's background and experience can be found in the notice of meeting and in the company's annual report. Shane is required to retire in accordance with the Constitution and therefore seeks re-election at this AGM. Shane offers himself for re-election, and the directors of the company other than Shane recommend shareholders approve re-election. Are there any questions on the resolution? Please cast your votes for Resolution Two. Resolution Three relates to the re-election of Adrienne Parker as a director and is displayed on the screen behind me. Adrienne is a non-executive director of the company. Further details of Adrienne's background and experience can be found in the notice of meeting and in the company's annual report. Adrienne is required to retire in accordance with the Constitution and therefore seeks re-election at this AGM.
Adrienne offers herself for re-election, and the directors of the company, other than Adrienne, recommend shareholders approve her re-election. Are there any questions on the resolution? Please cast your vote. Three. Resolution Four relates to the issue of short-term incentives for financial year 2025 to Tony Ottaviano and is displayed on the screen behind me. The resolution seeks shareholder approval under Listing Rule 10.14 for the issue of up to a total of 510,636 performance shares to Tony Ottaviano under the company's Employee Securities Incentive Plan on the terms and conditions set out in the explanatory memorandum. Are there any questions on the resolution? Please cast your votes for Resolution Four. Resolution Five relates to the issue of long-term incentives for financial year 2026 to Tony Ottaviano and is displayed on the screen behind me.
The resolution seeks shareholder approval under Listing Rule 10.14 for the issue of up to a total of 2.6 million performance share rights to Mr. Ottaviano under the company's Employee Securities Incentive Plan on the terms and conditions set out in the explanatory memorandum. Are there any questions on the resolution? Please cast your votes for Resolution Five. Resolution Six relates to the increase in the maximum total aggregate amount of fees payable to non-executive directors to AUD 1.5 million per annum displayed on the screen behind me. Are there any questions on the resolution? Please cast your votes for Resolution Six. Resolution Seven relates to the proposal to change the name of the company to Liontown Limited. Are there any questions on the resolution? Please cast your votes for Resolution Seven. There are no further resolutions to be considered at today's meeting.
Please place your completed voting papers in one of the ballot boxes circulating the room now. Would you please indicate by raising your hand if you require more time to complete and lodge your voting paper, or you need a pen? Thank you. Looks like we're done there. The voting process has now been completed. Thank you very much. I therefore declare the poll closed. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the formal business of the meeting. Thank you for your participation. The polling results will now be scrutinized and be announced to the ASX shortly. I will now move on to my chairman's address. Fellow shareholders, welcome. It's good to have you here, and there are some familiar faces here. What a day. The stock's now $1.52, and we're now capped at AUD 4.2 billion, which is fantastic considering what we've gone through over the last two years.
I won't go any further off script directly today. Anyway, they got me on a tight rail. The past year has been one of transition for Liontown. Today, we stand with a strong balance sheet and a world-class operating line at Kathleen Valley. The last quarter, we had AUD 420 million in the bank. Coupled with a first-rate workforce, the company is well positioned to take advantage of the improving lithium market. Having completed our first full year of operations, we have shipped over 360,000 dry metric tons of spodumene concentrate to customers around the world. We're currently operating Australia's only underground lithium mine. The transition from open pit to underground mining will be complete by year-end, at which point Kathleen Valley will be a 100% underground operation. The transition will increase productivity and output as we ramp up to full production of 2.8 million tons per annum.
Underground mining gives us several advantages that open pit mining cannot match. It allows us to surgically target ore, leaving waste rock behind. That means cleaner feed to the processing plant, which in turn delivers higher recoveries and better concentrate grades. Underground mining is also inherently scalable. In November 2024, we made the decision to adjust the mine plan to prioritize high-margin ore. This allowed us to limit capital and operating costs during a depressed lithium market while retaining the optionality to return to the 4 million ton mining rate when market conditions improve. We believe our process plant is truly best in class. In recent months, our operations team have pushed the plant hard, processing highly variable feed at times containing up to 40% gabbero waste rock from low-grade stockpiles. Despite this variability, the team continues to produce a consistent saleable product to our customers.
In August, the company strengthened its balance sheet through a two-tranched institutional placement and a share purchase plan raising AUD 372 million. The capital raising was strongly supported by both Australian and international institutions, as well as our retail shareholders. The recapitalization positions us to complete the underground transition and provides us with the optionality to pursue acquisitions that align with our long-term strategy. We are not content to remain a single-asset company. Our strategy has always been underpinned by three key pillars: fulfill the potential of Kathleen Valley, evaluate downstream opportunities, and grow Liontown to its full potential by expanding our portfolio. Bringing Kathleen Valley to full potential alongside pursuing accretive growth opportunities will be central to creating long-term shareholder value. Tony will shortly speak to what this future growth could look like. One theme remains clear. Global demand for lithium continues to grow.
This year, we welcomed three new executives to Liontown. In August, we appointed Ryan Hair as Chief Operating Officer. Ryan brings more than 30 years of mining experience, most recently as CEO of Covariant Lithium. Last month, we welcomed Lisa Breen as our Chief People Officer. Lisa is a highly regarded human resources leader. We have experience at MMA Offshore and Oscil. Next month, Greg Jason will join as Chief Financial Officer. Greg brings 25 years of C-suite experience across resources, manufacturing, financial services, defense, and logistics. This will be the executive team that leads Liontown through this transition and into our next phase. They are supported by an outstanding operational team across this business. To our CEO, Tony Ottaviano, thank you for your leadership. He is one of a kind, isn't he? Under this guidance, Liontown has developed into a world-class company, and we are only just getting started.
To you, your executive team, and all 317 employees, thank you for your continued dedication. To my fellow directors, thank you for your guidance and support throughout the year. Your contributions have helped position the company for long-term growth. I would also like to acknowledge and thank the Tjiwarl people, the traditional owners of the land on which Kathleen Valley operates. Our partnership is one founded on respect and collaboration. We value the community's support and look forward to continuing to share in the success of Kathleen Valley in the years ahead. I also want to thank both the Western Australian State Government and the Federal Government for their support. During a challenging period, the State Government provided a loan and port fee waivers under the Lithium Industry Support Program.
At the federal level, the Commonwealth Equity Investment through the National Reconstruction Fund played an important role in supporting our capital raise. We also appreciate the ministers from both levels of government who visited Kathleen Valley to see our operation firsthand. Finally, to our loyal shareholders, thank you for your ongoing support, commitment, and unwavering belief in Liontown. Absolutely unbelievable. Thank you. Your board remains 100% focused on delivering and building shareholder returns. The team will be available to answer your questions after the presentation, and we look forward to speaking with you over refreshments once formalities are concluded. I'll now hand over to Tony for his presentation, where he will provide further detail on our operations and outlook. Thank you.
Thank you, Tim. Good morning and welcome everyone to and joining us today. For me, I look forward to these AGMs.
It's the one opportunity management and the board get to really engage with the shareholders. There are companies that see this as a burden, whereas I see it as a positive. No better feedback than that of a shareholder. FY 2025 was a transformational year for Liontown. We became Australia's first underground lithium mine. We delivered on every major commitment, and we did it through one of the toughest periods this industry has seen so far. Today, I will focus on three critical areas. First, our FY 2025 execution. We achieved first production in July on schedule. We commenced underground mining on schedule in April. We generated nearly AUD 300 million in revenue and AUD 55 million in EBITDA in our first year of operations. Second, our FY 2026 transformation strategy and transition. We're making strategic investments today that will drive structural cost improvements into the following years, FY 2027 and onwards. Thirdly, our growth vision.
Kathleen Valley is world-class, but it's just the beginning of what we're building. By the end of this presentation, you'll understand why Liontown is exceptionally well positioned to create substantial long-term shareholder value. Let's start with the foundation. Kathleen Valley is a world-class ore body, one of the largest in the world, in the top 10, at 155 million tons and a 1.3% grade. This translates to a mine life exceeding 25 years at our planned production rates. The resource size alone doesn't define tier one status. Location matters profoundly. Western Australia provides political and regulatory stability, world-class mining infrastructure, a deep pool of skilled labor, and strong environmental governance. When tier one customers like LG Energy Solution, Tesla, and Ford evaluate supply partners, jurisdiction risk is paramount. This combination, an exceptional resource in an exceptional jurisdiction, enabled us to execute and deliver through the market downturn.
I feel this chart captures the performance story. During FY 2025, spodumene prices collapsed 44%. Today, spodumene prices have rebounded to above $1,000 a ton, but for the past year, prices fell to levels of $600. They reached this low, and at this level, at least 30% of what's in the market is not economic. So 30% of the cost curve is below that price. That's why this is not sustainable. Yet given this backdrop, Liontown's share price fell only 21%, outperforming the commodity by 23 percentage points. More telling, since June 30, we've surged 110% compared to the spodumene price of 79%. This outperformance reflects growing market confidence in both our operational delivery and the long-term fundamentals of Kathleen Valley. Some milestones which you see there: first production in July. September, we shipped our first cargo.
December, we delivered our first cargo to our foundational customer, LG, who's in the audience today. April, we commenced our underground mining. August, we did that important capital raise of AUD 372 million, which Tim talked about. In November, we launched our first auction. The market expects flawless execution. When the commodity price is not your friend, the only thing the market recognizes is operational excellence. That is what we've got to deliver. Now let's talk the market. Despite near-term volatility, long-term fundamentals, as Tim said, remain compelling. Electric vehicle sales exceeded 2 million units monthly for the first time in September this year, marking a 23% year-on-year growth based on Row Motion data. Bloomberg forecasts EV sales reaching 39 million units by 2030. That is a CAGR of 14%. I believe that's conservative. Other forms of transportation are adopting batteries, including commercial and heavy-duty trucks.
We saw this firsthand when a group of us went to China about four weeks ago. That segment of the market is growing rapidly. It is not just passenger vehicles; it is commercial vehicles. You have these low-altitude vehicles, which are another segment. The eVTOLs and the drones rely on lithium batteries. Geographically, China continues its robust trajectory. Europe is rebounding strongly, and the rest of the world, and that is a huge segment, is accelerating rapidly. Here is what analysts underestimated in our view, and we have been saying this for some time: stationary battery. Benchmark Materials Intelligence estimates that BESS will contribute 25% of the total lithium demand through to 2029. Yet forecasts vary widely. I would like to draw your attention to this second graph. The blue bar is what the market, the street consensus, is saying around stationary batteries.
The bar on the outside is the biggest battery producer in the world, CATL. That is their forecast, all right? There is another forecaster in the middle. The point that I want to make here is the difference, the error band between the blue bar and the world's biggest producer is 765,000 tons on an LCE basis. That is the error in the forecast. Just to put that in perspective, that is half of this year's production. To me, this one is a huge driver, and I think the market is starting to understand this. Where are these batteries used? Large-scale grid storage investments are accelerating globally to enable renewable energy penetration, but more importantly, to improve grid reliability. Data centers are representing an emerging demand vector, and we are getting inbound interest from data centers, the people that actually construct it.
We will be having a session with a large player in the coming weeks just to understand where they are seeing their demand for batteries going. As demand grows, the influence of a single mine, and particularly a single player, will diminish. Supply will remain tight because the industry has not invested during this downturn. Liontown has invested. That positioning matters as the market tightens. If I just go to our first year of performance, let me walk through this with you. We produced 294,000 tons. I mean, that is including six months of ramp-up in the plant. We had exceptional plant reliability at 89%. The concentrate sales, we nearly sold 300,000 tons of production in our first year.
We had, at the time, AUD 156 million in the bank, almost AUD 300 million in revenue, and a good cost structure, not considering that it was in our ramp-up year where you do not have the economies of scale. Our sustainability strategy for the long term, this is something we work on every day. Our sustainability committee has enrolled. We had a very good meeting around this, and we will continue to prosecute what we think is the right thing to do as a mining executive and as a mining company. Now, FY 2026, our transitional year. Why is it a transition year? What does it mean for value creation? As Tim mentioned, underground mining commenced in April 2025, exactly on schedule. We invested significantly in enabling infrastructure such as life-of-mine ventilation, Australia's largest pastefill plant. We did this day one.
We didn't wait five years before we built it, like some companies do. We invested in this upfront. We're now ramping up to 1.5 million tons by the March quarter, with an open pit operation coming to a conclusion in December this year. Why does the underground transition matter? There are four fundamental reasons. First, higher grade ore. The underground material averages about 1.4%. Better grade, better recovery. When you get better recovery, you get better plant performance, and you get a lower cost base. Secondly, the recovery gives us confidence. Our trials that we did with the underground material gives us that foresight to be able to forecast that we'll achieve our design parameter and recovery levels of 70% and then beyond that. Thirdly, structural cost improvements.
As I mentioned, the better recoveries deliver this, but also, as we mine deeper into the underground, the larger stopes, and they're very large, will give us economies of scale because if you've got the same fixed costs going into a stope, but you're going to mine 80,000 tons of it instead of four, you can see you can spread those costs over more tons. Lastly, operational flexibility. Underground mining allows us selective extraction, production rate adjustments based on market conditions while preserving the resource value. As Tim mentioned, our processing plant is performing exactly as designed, reliably producing high-quality specification-grade concentrate at scale. We've de-risked the flowsheet, and we continue to do this through our optimization. Now, we'll move to the financial strength. Our balance sheet supports the transition strategy.
AUD 420 million cash at the end of September substantially gives us that operational flexibility as we ramp up the underground. It gives us our funding arrangements a low covenant and low cost, backed by tier one customer relationships. Ford have agreed to defer the loan payment until September 2026, providing additional flexibility for us. The capital structure aligns perfectly with our strategy: execute the underground transition, optimize the operation systematically, and maintain optionality for disciplined growth. I do want to mention the Australian National Reconstruction Fund, the AUD 50 million investment they made during that raise. I mean, that was a fairly profound investment by government that helped crowd in an additional AUD 300 million of private equity into our company. Now, Liontown to its full potential. I mean, Tim touched on it, but it starts with Kathleen Valley. We need to successfully execute the strategy of Kathleen Valley.
The most value-accretive path for us upfront is to deliver Kathleen Valley to its full potential. Subject to market conditions, we want to grow Kathleen Valley to the full million and maybe beyond. We are dusting off those works as we speak to feed into it all the known information that we have got from the operating and the plant rather than theoreticals that we had during the feasibility study. We will understand what that expansion phase will look like. It has to go beyond Kathleen Valley. We do not want to stay a single-asset company. We need to grow. We need to give diversity of earnings, and we need to look globally. The board is committed. We had a strategy session only a few weeks ago. We understand what we need to achieve. We are extremely aligned, and we are going to push that.
Countercyclical investment is what we need to do. Our vision is to build a diversified, globally relevant battery materials business with sustainable participation across the lithium value chain. Now, let me bring this all together. FY 2025 proved we can execute under pressure, and we delivered Australia's first underground lithium mine. We shipped 283,000 tons, generated nearly AUD 300 million in revenue, and AUD 55 million in EBITDA, all while maintaining a strong balance sheet, all delivered through a severe commodity market downturn. FY 2026 represents opportunity through this transition phase. We've calculated all the investments we need. We've put them in, and we're going to push for superior recoveries and a lower cost structure. FY 2027 and beyond is where the sustained value compounds, consistent production, good margins, growth optionality, and strategic partnerships all give us a competitive edge.
We have every element required for success: a world-class asset, a proven team, tier one customers, a strong balance sheet, and a disciplined strategy. Now, before I go on the video, I just want to acknowledge a few people. Firstly, Adam Smits and Jon Latto, both who are instrumental in getting us to where we are today. I would like to thank them for their contribution. Tim has already welcomed Ryan, Lisa, and Greg, so into our next phase. I welcome them to the company. To our board, thank you. We meet tirelessly, and we are very aligned and collegiate. To our stakeholders, thank you for your participation during the year, and to our shareholders for your continued support and commitment. I do want to do a specific call-out to a few shareholders. Tim and I regularly get letters and emails from shareholders.
To be frank, they keep us going. There's been some dark times, but those letters from shareholders who are supporting us every single step of the way is uplifting. It gives me, as a CEO, the ability to turn to my team and say, "They're backing us." People like shareholders like the Azimovs, Dean Oakley, Sodahome, who's not here today, but they're all, and there are many people in this room that speak to me regularly. I thank you. The support helps me personally to push through. I'm not big on quotes, but I do like this one, which I'll end the presentation before we show the video. It came from Theodore Roosevelt, which I think captures the year perfectly.
It’s not the critic who counts, not the person who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the people actually in the arena whose face is marred by dust, sweat, and blood. That’s our team. That’s Liontown. Thank you." Underground production is ramping up rapidly at Kathleen Valley, supported by the arrival of new fleet and expanding operations teams. Together with Burncut, we’re building capacity for safe, efficient production as we move towards larger stoping areas and a sustained run rate well above 1 million tons per annum. After an incredible three years, which ensured mill feed for startup of operations and waste for required infrastructure, we’re coming to the end of the open pit mining at the end of the year and ready for handover to the underground operations.
At the plant, we're upskilling the team. We're implementing advanced process control to optimize performance and producing sellable concentrate from ore with higher-than-design levels of waste host rock. We remain on track for our target of 70% lithium recovery in Q3, when we are processing mostly underground ore. We're continuing our focus on responsible and sustainable operations with high levels of renewable power penetration and strong support for the local community through Aboriginal employment, commercial contracts with Aboriginal businesses, and support for local community events. We have high-performing teams across the business. We're delivering ambitious milestones to schedule with an unwavering focus on safety, business optimization, and creating value for all stakeholders.
Now, I'll open it up for Q&A. Is that right? Yes. Okay. Let's go. Tony. Eddie.
Hi. I have a question about your attitude to price. I mean, we don't have a lot of transparency.
Where do you sit as to what your strategy is going to be going forward?
That's a big question. Maybe I'll sort of pare it back down onto a couple of things. When I first joined Liontown, what was obvious to me was the market for the product was very much relationship-driven, right? There wasn't a sort of globally transparent trading platform so that we could get transparency around pricing. The second thing is the actual product we were producing didn't have a price reference. We had to rely on the chemical price of the product, right? Chemicals, and then back-calculate what the product we were selling was worth. We were tied to the price and the supply dynamics and demand dynamics of another product.
Right upfront, we said, "Well, when we sign our offtake agreements, let's leave a certain amount of product available for the spot market." It is through the spot market and creating that platform to actually trade so that we could get to transparency, we hoped that we could get the proper pricing mechanism for the product we sell. Therefore, margin, which is important when you look at the battery value chain, where does margin accrue? It should accrue at the point of first sale of a product, which is spodumene. Now, since then, we have seen a spodumene index develop, sufficiently so that we've got confidence that we can now link our offtake agreements to that spodumene index. Now, we have contracts that we need to honor, which are still on the chemical price, but over time, we'll progress to a spodumene index.
Grant, do you want to add anything? Grant's our commercial guy, so he's the one that's out there on the day-to-day.
I would just say that part of the auction process that we ran just before the AGM is around getting that transparency, so getting real data points, physical trades that can then inform that index to make sure we get paid a fair price for our product. As Tony said, that's an important part of the journey that we're on, and you'll see us being much more active in 2026 on the spot market.
Hi. I guess I'll resume because I want to talk about sustainability every time we go to an AGM, that's sort of the key word. I just went to Liontown backing out of the driver's platform in New Zealand. I'm just wondering whether you're looking at remediating the land as you use the land.
To what aspect of remediating the land? And just a second question. With most of your shareholders, we've not given them away. Are you looking at—did I ask this question last year? Are you looking at doing live streaming so that everyone else can hear in Australia and can actually on the board where our shareholders are so people can actually ask questions from a wider base?
Okay. Maybe I'll address the second part first. We are live streaming at the moment. Okay. And so they have the opportunity to, A, hear and, B, ask questions, which are probably coming through as we speak. In terms of the open pit and its closure plans, as part of our overall commitment to the João and to the government in terms of our permitting, we are looking at ways to minimize the footprint that we leave behind.
In fact, our tailings and our waste dumps are basically nonexistent because we've reutilized a lot of the waste for the underground pastefill. The footprint is extremely small. There is an understanding, and our permitting is all based on the landform that is currently there now being left as it is. Tony and the board, Eddie and Margot, congratulations on the AGM. We'd love to be involved in helping as good as you guys. I've heard of saying a board of management team capable of owning multiple assets. It's you guys. You made a comment that you don't want to be a single mine owner, but then you made a comment on a point. You're in a globally relevant battery metals business. It was interesting you used the word litigious as you used battery metals.
I just want to ask the question, are you living your growth aspirations just to live your board of battery metals? First and foremost, Eddie, thank you for assisting us in our capital raise in August. Secondly, in terms of our growth aspirations, our primary core competence is lithium. It's hard rock lithium. We're not going to be closed to just staying in hard rock because we need to understand where battery chemistry is going. There may be a hedge that we have to look at in terms of managing that battery chemistry evolution by possibly focusing on other forms of lithium, like the brines. Now, adjacent minerals. The way I look at it is if there's an opportunity and it is value accretive and it is in strategy, then we'll look at it. As Tim would say, if it makes money, it's strategy.
First of all, perhaps Tony and the team, I'll open the door first to you, Patrick. Just had a question regarding the cost in the upcoming quarter. With the all-new sustainability cost, with the FY 2026 guidance we've been given earlier, it's made you see how the cost is trending and if we're on track to achieve the FY 2026 guidance or relative to what we achieve in the September quarter. No, we're holding to our guidance 100%. Thanks. A couple of questions online. First question is, I think someone will open the first gentleman's question in the room, which was from Brent Johnson abroad. How optimistic are you for the continuing improvement for lithium and over the next 12 months?
We're very strong as a company.
As I said, a number of us went to China three or four weeks ago, and there were three key messages that came out of that visit. Firstly, they wanted to buy more product. So whatever we could afford offtake, they wanted to buy the afford offtake. They asked us about our expansion plans and when are we going to expand. The third message was demand and demand is strong, especially in the stationary battery area. Therefore, we believe that this will be a market that will come out of oversupply driven by strong demand.
Another question from Timothy Wilson, watching online. Tony, can you tell us what Liontown will do to drive more price transparency?
I think between myself and Grant, we've sort of answered that already. Clearly, the auction mechanism that we've adopted is one form, which we'll continue to push.
We do sell production that is not on the index or not on that platform, which again, we will report to the price referencing agencies. This one related to, I guess, the downstream strategy, a question from Tristan Brunson. Will Liontown be working toward refining lithium in-house? We are public in our partnerships with both LG Energy Solution and Sumitomo on our refining aspiration. We continue to work with these two very important customers and partners around the economics of refining. We know that building something here in Australia has a cost premium, both capital and operating. We are asking our partners, and we are looking globally around where this opportunity can best generate the best shareholder value. We are continuing to work that.
This is the last question from Shane Pitrow.
You addressed it a little bit in your speech at the AIO data centers, but this is quite a specific question. Has Liontown approached any hyperscalers to offer battery-based solutions with growing demand of AI and server-based compute data center markets?
I would not be that specific. We have had general discussions, and as I alluded to in my speech, we will talk to customers of these data centers to understand their requirements and how we can best create an opportunity between us. Taking you back to the recent auction, you mentioned that there will be more. Is there any idea at this stage how regular or how often within the year these auctions will take place? We do have a plan for what we see in FY 2026. I do not want to give too much away here, but we definitely have a strategy around this.
Very calculated.
Okay. If there's no further questions, once again, thank you for everyone for coming, and thank you.