RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Rio Tinto Plc said today that it would buy the Rincón lithium project located in Argentina for US$825 million, as the company seeks to build its position as a supplier of battery materials.
The acquisition comes against a solid global demand for lithium as input for batteries used in electric cars. In contrast, another mining product, borate, is used in solar panels and wind turbines.
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“The Rincon project has the potential to deliver a significant new supply of battery-grade lithium carbonate to capture the opportunity offered by growing demand driven by the global energy transition,” Rio’s chief executive, Jakob Stausholm, said in a statement.
The Anglo-Australian miner said that Rincon, a large, as yet undeveloped lithium brine project located in the heart of the ‘lithium triangle’ in Argentina’s Salta province, is in the process of being bought from Rincon Mining, held by funds managed by private equity group Sentient Equity Partners.
Rincón Mining’s general manager, Alejandro Moro, confirmed to Reuters what Rio Tinto said in its press release.
Rio said that the direct lithium extraction technology proposed for the project has the “potential to increase lithium recoveries” compared to solar evaporation ponds significantly, adding that a pilot scheme is currently operating at the site.
Rio committed US$2.4 billion in July to a lithium project in Serbia that is generating protests from environmentalists, who claim it will contaminate land and water.
With information from Reuters