Elevra inks $437M financing for Quebec lithium

Australia’s Elevra Lithium (ASX: ELV; Nasdaq: ELVR) unveiled a A$441-million ($437-million) funding package to help expand its North American Lithium (NAL) operation in Quebec and advance pre-development work at the Moblan project to a final investment decision.

The deal includes a fully underwritten A$275-million institutional placement, a maximum $145-million (US$106-million) convertible note investment from the Canada Growth Fund and a share purchase plan of up to A$20 million, Elevra said Tuesday.

Brisbane-based Elevra also released an updated scoping study for NAL that demonstrates improved economics thanks to higher throughput and better prices. The study doubles the expansion project’s incremental post-tax net present value (NPV) to $969 million, Elevra said in a separate statement.

Tuesday’s financing package “more than covers the estimated US$270-million expansion capex,” BMO Capital Markets mining analyst Raj Ray said in a note. “We continue to believe the NAL expansion offers a compelling brownfield growth opportunity at an attractive capital intensity.”

Strategic project

News of the funding agreement comes as lithium producers navigate volatile commodity prices and uncertain electric vehicle demand growth. Despite softer lithium prices over the past four years, governments in Canada and the U.S. have backed strategic projects viewed as key to reducing dependence on Chinese critical minerals processing.

Located about 570 km north of Montreal, NAL is Canada’s largest operating lithium mine. Its production is forecast to rise to 338,000 tonnes per year from 315,000 previously, giving the mine a projected operating life of 21 years, Elevra said.

The mine restarted production in 2023 after being placed on care and maintenance several years earlier. It produces spodumene concentrate used in electric vehicle batteries and other energy storage applications.

Elevra was formed in August 2025 through the combination of Piedmont Lithium and Sayona Mining, which were co-investors in NAL.

Besides NAL, Elevra owns 60% of the Moblan lithium project in Quebec’s James Bay region. It also controls the Carolina Lithium project in the United States and holds exploration ground in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

New shares

Elevra will issue about 22.5 million new shares at A$12.20 each, representing an 11% discount to the company’s Monday closing price of A$13.74. The share purchase plan will allow eligible shareholders to apply for up to A$30,000 in shares.

At the company’s request, trading in Elevra shares was halted Tuesday on the Australian Stock Exchange before the funding package was announced. Elevra has a market value of about A$2.3 billion.

The convertible note investment from the $15 billion Canada Growth Fund will be split into two tranches over five years. The second tranche remains subject to shareholder approval and receipt of the stage five mining permit for the NAL operation.

Together with existing cash and funds from the recently announced sale of the Ewoyaa project in Ghana, proceeds from the financing package will be directed toward mill optimization, flotation upgrades and crushing circuit enhancements at NAL, Elevra said.

“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,” Elevra CEO Lucas Dow said in the release.

“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.”

Value chain

Canada Growth Fund’s investment aligns with the investment fund’s mandate to support the country’s critical minerals supply chain, CEO Yannick Beaudoin said.

“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 Quebec,” he said.

Capital expenditures for the three-stage increase are pegged at $366 million. Stage one will start in mid-2027, while Stage three construction is forecast to be completed by mid-2029.

The expansion project gives NAL a post-tax NPV of $3.11 billion, with a 42% post-tax internal rate of return and a 25-month payback period, Elevra also said.

At Moblan, Elevra will carry out technical and pre-development activities such as environmental baseline studies and permitting work through to a final investment decision. The project’s defined feasibility study will also be reviewed.