Ivanhoe’s Kipushi zinc mine in the DRC officially reopens
The restart marked exactly a century since the mine first went into production.
South Korea’s Posco and Canada’s Lithium South Development (TSX-V: LIS) have signed an agreement for the joint development of the Hombre Muerto lithium project in the Argentine province of Salta.
As part of the deal, the partners will have a split claim on all brine produced at two of the Norma Edith and Viamonte blocks in Catamarca and Salta. This arrangement avoids a lengthy, costly, and uncertain legal undertaking, the companies said, as they both hold claims to the same ground but in different provinces.
Posco has been expanding its steelmaking portfolio into new businesses for diversification, giving preference to minerals and metals used in electric vehicle batteries.
The partnership between Lithium South and POSCO Argentina SAU, along with the increased resource estimate at the Hombre Muerto North project, marks a new phase in the asset development.
Argentina is part of the so-called “lithium triangle,” which also includes neighbours Chile and Bolivia, home to one of the world’s largest lithium reserves.
Official figures indicate the country, which has attracted billions to its growing lithium sector, expects exports of the battery metal to reach $5.6 billion by 2025.
The figure is based on the production of 200,000 annual tonnes of the battery metal thanks to the development of six new projects in addition to the output of two existing lithium mines.
