Lithium Industry Support Program: Loan Facility

Eligible applicants

To be eligible for financial assistance, applicants must meet all the following criteria:

1. The applicant must be actively operating a lithium mine in WA, producing at a commercial scale as of the application date.
2. The operation must be ongoing, with no plans to enter or be currently under care and maintenance.
3. The applicant must nominate a single mine and clearly outline how the loan will be used to sustain operations. Only one mine application is permitted per applicant.
4. A clear, actionable plan and strategy to demonstrate the mining operation's ongoing viability.
5. The applicant must demonstrate that the project will support the retention of jobs at the relevant lithium mine, with evidence of current employment levels and positions at risk without financial support.
6. The lithium mine’s operations must be compliant with all required licenses, permits, and environmental approvals in accordance with WA Government standards.
7. The project must contribute to WA’s battery and critical minerals strategy, including advancing critical minerals production, sustaining jobs in the lithium mining sector, or supporting downstream processing initiatives.

Ineligible activities

Under the Facility, the loan cannot be used for the following purposes:

• Paying dividends, bonuses, or other financial returns to shareholders.
• Refinancing existing debts, including loans or lines of credit from other financial institutions.
• Funding exploration or the development of new mining sites outside the nominated operational mine.
• Supporting activities unrelated to lithium production, such as investments in unrelated businesses, property acquisitions, or speculative ventures.
• Covering fines, penalties, or legal settlements arising from non-compliance with licenses, permits, or environmental regulations.
• Covering costs associated with care and maintenance or mine closure planning.

All applications must be submitted via the SmartyGrants online portal before 5:00pm Friday 31 January 2025.

Applicants should read the Program Guidelines before submitting an application.

Applications will be assessed on a first-come basis and loans awarded to eligible organisations.

Receipt of the application will be determined by the date and time shown that the complete application is electronically submitted. Lodgement of electronic files may take time and the Applicant must make their own assessment of the time required for full transmission of their application.

Applicants may be contacted by a Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DEMIRS) representative if further information is required throughout the assessment process.

Evidence Required

The application must include, but is not limited to, the following information:
Nomination of the lithium mine that the loan facility will apply to if the Applicant has more than one mine.

• Project information including status, i.e., operating, care and maintenance, etc.
• A detailed description of how the funds provided through the Facility will be used to support the mining operation(s).
• Company turnover and financial reports, such as balance sheet, cash flow statement, and profit and loss or income statement.
• Financial projections, including balance sheet.
• The Project’s recent historical, current, and forecast production and/or sales quantity (in tonnes) and value of spodumene concentrate and co- or by-products
• the relevant Project’s recent historical, current, and forecast all-in sustaining costs per tonne of spodumene produced less co- or by-product credits, including a breakdown of costs and credits.
• Forecast all-in sustaining costs per tonne of spodumene produced less co- or by-product credits, including a breakdown of costs and credits.
• Current mine life, resource/reserve estimates and estimated economical tonnes of spodumene.
• Number of staff by role (i.e. operations, administration, management) and residence (local, Western Australia, interstate, overseas).
• Marketing and sales arrangements including offtake agreements with related quantities and duration.
• Expansion and downstream processing plans, including capital expenditure.
• Previous State and Commonwealth Government assistance received by the Applicant.
• Any other information to demonstrate the financial position of the Applicant, viability of an asset, and/or any other relevant information This may include historical data.

The total maximum allowable support will be $15 million for each successful applicant. Financial assistance will be:

• subject to execution of a Deed of Loan.
• paid on a single instalment.
• limited to one loan per applicant and must be tied to one lithium mine.

Loan Repayments

Recipients will be required to repay the loan through regular quarterly payments over the 2 years following the end of the interest-free period.

The interest free period will cease after the average spodumene concentrate price has exceeded US$1,100 per tonne for 2 successive quarters, or by 30 June 2026, whichever occurs first. 

Recipients are required to repay only the principal, as the loan is interest-free. The principal may be repaid in full or in part at any time during the loan term without incurring fees or penalties.

Loan drawdowns will be transferred directly into an Australian bank account nominated by the Recipient at the execution of the Deed of Loan.

Once repaid, loan amounts cannot be redrawn under any circumstances.

End of Term Obligations

At the end of the loan term, the loan recipients must repay or refinance any remaining loan balance through commercial finance (or repayment by other means).

If recipients fail to repay or refinance any remaining loan balance, the loan will be subject to a commercial interest rate set by the WA Government.

If you have any questions regarding the Facility, please contact JTSI by telephone on 
(08) 6277 3000 or by email at GreenEnergyWA@jtsi.wa.gov.au.

The email will not be monitored from Monday 23 December 2024 to Monday 6 January 2025.