Leo Lithium bows out, handing back $220M to shareholders

[Ben Graham]

Australia’s Leo Lithium will sell its remaining assets and return at least A$330 million (about $220 million) to shareholders, with the terms of the capital return to be finalized in coming weeks. 

The decision follows pressure from Firefinch, Leo’s largest shareholder, which has sought to remove four directors. The company said a shareholder vote on the motion is scheduled for November 12.

“In addition to the A$207 million returned to shareholders in January 2025, the company has determined to return a further A$330 million (approximately 27.4¢ per share),” Leo said in its filing.

The payout stems largely from Leo’s exit from the Goulamina lithium project in Mali, after selling its 40% stake in the project to China’s Ganfeng Lithium. 

Leo said it would keep “a small amount of cash” to secure a sale of its only remaining asset, a trailing product sales fee. Proceeds from that sale, along with any surplus cash, will be returned to shareholders in a third distribution.

The miner is also facing automatic delisting from the ASX on September 22, after nearly two years of suspended trading. Leo Lithium noted that discussions with the exchange on a potential relisting remain ongoing.

The company was spun off from Firefinch in 2022 to develop Goulamina in a joint venture with Ganfeng. Leo’s wind-down underscores the sharp downturn in lithium prices since 2022, which has left many juniors struggling for funding and vulnerable to consolidation.