The news comes just days after it revealed it had gone on a$132 million-share buying spree,taking her total spend over the past month to $740 million.
The move comes as US giant Albemarle continues its due diligence ahead of its proposed $6.6 billion takeover,which includes running the ruler over its flagship Kathleen Valley project.
Liontown’s shares have continued to hover around the $3 mark in recent weeks,giving the company a market capitalisation of $6.62 billion.
But they dropped 1.34 per cent after the lithium prospector announced the cost of the lucrative early-stage lithium project in the Goldfields had grown by $56 million to $951 million.
The fresh costings,however,do not account for early mine development,an acceleration of production from 3 million tonnes per year to 4 million tonnes or the construction of stockpiles – all of which have a combined value of $63 million.
Liontown’s chief executive Tony Ottaviano said the company remained confident the project would begin first production by mid-2024,with all major construction and mining contracts now issued.
But in a statement released on Friday,Hancock Prospecting said the news only reinforced its previous observations that the project faced “significant execution,operational ramp-up and market risks”.