Pilbara Minerals boss Dale Henderson says the company acted courageously with a near $560 million takeover offer for Latin Resources and its flagship lithium project Salinas in Brazil, despite analyst and investor doubts about the deal.

In moving on Latin after assessing scores of lithium projects, Pilbara Minerals is making a countercyclical bet on the battery-making ingredient and spreading its wings beyond Western Australia where it is pressing ahead with a massive expansion of its Pilgangoora mine.