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Tim Goyder talks about conquering cancer and why he’s sticking around at Liontown Resources

Septuagenarian mining magnate Tim Goyder is lucky to be alive and “welded on” to fledgling lithium producer Liontown Resources. Nearly 50 years have passed since the son of a beef farmer began pegging tenements on the outskirts of Eneabba, a sleepy country town just over halfway on the journey from Perth to Geraldton. Mr Goyder, now 70, has ridden the relentless boom and bust of the mining cycle since he hammered that first stake into soil. In the perennial quest for pay dirt there has been a healthy dose of success along the way, but not without some bumps in the road. His most prominent investment — Liontown — typifies this. Liontown is now worth less than one quarter of the $6.6 billion that US giant Albemarle tried to buy it for less than 18 months ago. The deal falling apart thwarted a fairytale ending for the penny dreadful explorer Mr Goyder floated on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2006. A subsequent lithium price collapse has battered Liontown’s stock, despite the company ticking off the milestones in ramping up its Kathleen Valley mine in the northern Goldfields. But the company had an auspicious start to 2025 as the ASX’s top-performing large stock on the first trading day of the new year, rising 8.6 per cent. Mr Goyder, who is chair and directly holds 13.6 per cent of the company’s shares, believes the lithium market will soon turn a corner given the dearth of new mines coming online. “It’s not unlike agriculture, you’ve got to wait for the rain and we’ve got to wait for a decent price,” he tells The West Australian. “The price has been disappointing but fundamentally we’ve got a good project there. “I’m sure we’ll look back in a couple of years time, and we can see that yes, it was a trough, but there’s going to be no new greenfields projects moving into production unless the price goes to $US2000 a tonne.” While the benchmark price for the spodumene concentrate Liontown produces still lingers below $US900/t, Mr Goyder says Australia’s newest lithium miner wants to tune out the external noise and have one core focus in 2025. “Deliver, deliver, deliver,” he said. “We’re producing near nameplate (capacity) now in terms of our new optimization plan . . . we just need to keep it up and stay resilient.” Resilience is something Mr Goyder says he had to develop after a life-changing experience three decades ago. He was diagnosed with leukaemia not long after his 40th birthday and battled the deadly blood cancer for many years. He recalls having to inject himself with debilitating drugs every day while looking for the next great mineral find in destinations as far flung as Eritrea, which neighbours Sudan on the Horn of Africa. “I’ve always had a pretty positive attitude, but you know getting diagnosed with a terminal illness at 40 is pretty tough,” he said. “It’s galvanised my resilience and, I guess these things happen to people, I’m fortunate that I’ve had the best treatment available in the world and the best drugs. I’m still here 30 years later, which is phenomenal.” Mr Goyder and his wife Linda have since became major donors to the Leukaemia Foundation to ensure others with the illness also come out the other side. Despite a major health battle, reaching 70 years of age, and experiencing a tumultuous year across his stable of critical mineral investments that saw him lose his billionaire status, there is still no desire to retire from Liontown or sell down his big stake. “I’m welded on,” he quipped. “I believe I’m a young 70-year-old. I’ve still got plenty fight in me . . . even though, of course, one’s got to be sensible and we’re always looking for other directors and have a succession plan in place at Liontown. “But I still have no plans to be hanging my boots up at this stage, much to my wife’s disagreement.” Away from his day job Mr Goyder enjoys venturing to his beach house down south, though he says he can never fully switch off. “My main hobby is the mining game.” That game has changed drastically since Mr Goyder laid claim to his first slice of mining land five decades ago. “Well, for one you can do it (pegging a tenement) over the computer now.” But he believes the fundamentals for a thriving industry are the same, as concerns swirl that the Albanese Government could dust off and introduce a mining tax. “If I had a business like the mining industry, I’d be trying hard to grow it, not over tax it,” he said.

The West Australian exclusiveTim Goyder talks about conquering cancer and why he’s sticking around at Liontown Resources

exclusive
Tim Goyder talks about conquering cancer and why he’s sticking around at Liontown Resources