Tivan’s Molyhil Plan Gets a Japanese Trading House, Patient Capital and Aboriginal Participation at the Table

Tivan has given investors plenty to chew over, unveiling a broader development framework for its Molyhil Tungsten Project in the Northern Territory that brings together project funding, potential offtake, strategic capital and local Aboriginal participation.

The headline act is a pair of key terms memorandums of understanding with Sumitomo Corporation and ETFS Capital, which together contemplate up to $50 million of stage-gated investment into Molyhil. Just as importantly, Tivan expects to retain an effective 82.5% project interest at final investment decision, assuming no further divestment of project interests.

That is the sort of structure junior resources investors tend to like: bring in grown-up partners, avoid blowing out the share register, and keep meaningful exposure if the project makes the leap from study-land to construction.

Sumitomo brings more than a cheque book

Under the proposed Sumitomo structure, the Japanese trading house may invest up to $25 million for an interest of up to 8.75% in the incorporated joint venture vehicle. The investment would be split into two instalments: $4.5 million for an initial 3.0% interest to help fund the pre-feasibility study, definitive feasibility study and funding plan, followed by $20.5 million subject to completion of the definitive feasibility study and a final investment decision.

The bigger strategic carrot is offtake. Sumitomo may secure offtake for up to 100% of life-of-mine production from Molyhil on commercial terms. For a tungsten project in the middle of Australia, that marketing and distribution piece is not a frill; it is potentially a major de-risking plank.

The arrangements are not yet binding, and Sumitomo still has further due diligence ahead, including a site visit and work on legal, financial and technical reports. Foreign Investment Review Board considerations may also come into play. The parties are targeting long-form binding agreements by 30 September 2026.

ETFS Capital doubles down

ETFS Capital, the family office of Graham and Louise Tuckwell, is already a substantial shareholder and strategic partner of Tivan. Its proposed role at Molyhil mirrors Sumitomo’s economic exposure, with up to $25 million for an effective 8.75% project interest via an investment into the holding company that owns Tivan’s joint venture interest.

The staged nature of the funding matters. It means the first tranche supports the work needed to answer the hard questions, while the second tranche is tied to the project reaching the pointy end of development planning. That is sensible capital discipline, even if it leaves investors waiting on study outcomes before the valuation rubber truly hits the Plenty Highway.

Molyhil’s numbers are doing the heavy lifting

Molyhil sits about 220 kilometres north-east of Alice Springs and hosts a JORC 2012 resource of 4.647 million tonnes at 0.26% tungsten trioxide and 0.09% molybdenum, containing 12,100 tonnes of tungsten trioxide and 4,400 tonnes of molybdenum. The deposit was discovered in the 1970s and mined between 1978 and 1982.

Tivan’s April 2026 scoping study put some eye-catching economics around the project, including a pre-tax NPV of $534.3 million, an internal rate of return of 114.2% and payback of 0.8 years from the start of production. Post-tax, the study pointed to an NPV of $355 million, an internal rate of return of 79.1% and payback of 1.1 years. These are scoping-level numbers, so investors should treat them as promising rather than bankable.

Executive chairman Grant Wilson said the project had been “shuttered since 1982” and that Tivan had “established a credible and trusted pathway for project finance, as well as for marketing and distribution”.

Aboriginal Investment NT adds a local capital angle

The second release broadens the story beyond traditional project finance. Tivan has signed a memorandum of understanding with Aboriginal Investment NT, a Darwin-based Corporate Commonwealth Entity with more than $600 million under management.

The parties will assess collaboration over the next 12 months, including possible direct investment, procurement, employment, contracting and other project involvement opportunities for Aboriginal Australians. No party is bound to enter a commercial agreement, so this is an opening handshake rather than a signed cheque. But strategically, it fits Tivan’s stated ambition to build a critical minerals precinct in Central Australia with stronger local alignment.

AI NT chief executive Nigel Browne said the agreement reflected a commitment to ensuring Aboriginal Territorians have “a meaningful stake” in opportunities emerging from the critical minerals sector. Wilson described it as a “first-in-kind agreement” for the company.

What investors should watch next

The next milestones are plain enough: completion of long-form agreements, regulatory clearance where required, due diligence outcomes, the pre-feasibility study due in the fourth quarter of 2026, and ultimately the definitive feasibility study.

For now, Tivan has not built a mine. What it has done is assemble a more credible development pathway around Molyhil, with a Japanese industrial partner, a familiar strategic investor, potential full-project offtake and an Aboriginal-led NT investment body now in the conversation. For a revived tungsten-molybdenum project that has spent decades in the wilderness, that is a fair bit of company to have around the campfire.