Battery minerals producer Allkem says record revenue at the Mount Cattlin lithium mine in Western Australian has helped drive a record full-year profit.
Profit rose to $US524.6 million ($A817.9 million) and annual group revenue was a record $US1.2 billion, the critical minerals leader announced on Tuesday.
Mt Cattlin, a hard rock mine near Ravensthorpe in Western Australia, posted record revenue of $US615.6 million - up more than a third (36 per cent) on production of more than 130,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate.
The average price for the lithium product more than doubled to $US4879 a tonne and the mine's gross cash margin of 78 per cent was similar to FY22.
CEO Martin Perez de Solay said the company's "outstanding" results were underpinned by the strong performance at Mt Cattlin, which achieved record run rates in the second half, and record production at Olaroz.
The flagship Olaroz facility in northern Argentina, where the critical mineral is produced using evaporation ponds, also achieved record revenue and boosted production by 30 per cent to a record 16,703 tonnes.
Shares in Allkem rallied 2.1 per cent or 30 cents to $14.16 in morning trade to outperform a weak broader market.
Allkem plans to merge with American chemicals giant Livent to create the world's third-largest lithium producer as the North America races to end China's stranglehold on battery minerals.
"Our strategy to create a leading global integrated lithium chemicals producer will be accelerated by the proposed merger with Livent," Mr Perez de Solay said.
Poised to tap into North American clean energy subsidies, Canadian federal approval for a project in lithium-rich James Bay was obtained in January, where the total resource was recently upgraded by 173 per cent.
Strong cash generation and the existing net cash balance of $US648.4 million are expected to fully fund committed projects, Allkem said.
