But its new chief executive Michael Holmes remains bullish claiming the project had enough recoverable metals to supply up to 6 million electric vehicles.

The Sconi project has been touted as the next big thing in Queensland mining for years and had previously won strong, but conditional support from the Queensland Government. It was supposed to be in construction by July next year.

It’s still hoping to stitch up a funding deal by March, but it was now updating its bankable feasibility study which has a target of the first quarter 2024 and a financial investment decision is expected in 2026 with production in 2028.

The previous BFS said Sconi had post-tax net present value of $US580 million and a life of about 30 years.

But it has had some false starts and u-turns including a hefty fine from ASIC after the company falsely inflated its value with a claim that it had an offtake contract worth $5 billion. There was also speculation at one stage that Tesla was keen on a deal, but nothing ever happened.

“Following a review of recent technical and financial studies, Australian Mines has made the strategic decision to revert to develop the Sconi project to produce battery grade nickel sulphate, cobalt sulphate and scandium oxide ,” Holmes told shareholders.

That is a shift from its previous plans to produce pre-cursor cathode active materials which sold at a much high price.

“We believe this will maximise value of the project (and) returns for shareholders and provide a clear line of sight to construction,” Holmes said.

The company has an offtake agreement with LG Energy Solution and recently sent a delegation to South Korea to discuss required amendments to the deal and potential collaboration in development.

“The company will update the market in due course with respect to such amendments and collaboration if they are finalised.”

Holmes said he understood shareholder disappointment about the share price which had fallen 90 per cent from its levels in 2018. However, it was up 4.5 per cent today.