Lake Resources investors lost more than $130 million on Monday after the company’s shares slid 20 per cent on news its flagship lithium project would be delayed by six years and cost significantly more than expected.

The company also disclosed that its chief executive, David Dickson, had agreed to pay a $US100,000 ($146,000) civil penalty to the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States relating to his previous role as chief executive of New York-listed McDermott International, which was developing a liquid natural gas project.