MinRes adds to global lithium production cuts amid downturn
The company will put its Bald Hill lithium mine in Western Australia under care and maintenance starting this week.
Arcadium Lithium (NYSE: ALTM) (ASX: LTM) has acquired the intellectual property and physical assets held by Canada’s Li-Metal’s (CSE: LIM) as part of its strategy to develop cutting-edge technology for lithium carbonate to metal production.
A cash consideration totalling $11 million was paid to Li-Metals for the assets, which include a pilot plant in Markham, Ontario. Li-Metal is said to be the first to produce refined lithium metal from carbonate, and the company is piloting its production process at the Markham facility.
Arcadium will now assume operations of the facility to continue the commercialization of its lithium metal production technology. To support this, the parties have entered into a supply agreement under which Arcadium will provide lithium metal to Li-Metal as part of a long-term offtake agreement.
In addition, key personnel from Li-Metal’s lithium metal business will be joining Arcadium as part of the acquisition. Maciej Jastrzebski, Li-Metal’s co-founder and chief technology officer, has entered into a consulting agreement with Arcadium to facilitate the transfer of technology and integrate the team.
The acquisition is expected to strengthen Arcadium’s position as a leading global producer of lithium metal by providing safer, lower cost and more sustainable processes for lithium metal production using various grades of lithium carbonate feedstock, which the company produces in Argentina.
According to the Philadelphia-based lithium developer, these new capabilities will complement the company’s existing process technologies for producing lithium metal at its Bessemer City site in North Carolina, using concentrated lithium chloride from its Güemes facility in Argentina’s Salta province.
“We are excited to welcome the team to Arcadium Lithium as we look to lead the way in developing cutting-edge lithium carbonate to lithium metal production technology. This small but important acquisition gives us a platform to advance new and better process pathways for manufacturing lithium metal,” said Paul Graves, chief executive officer of Arcadium Lithium.
“The ability to produce lithium metal from lithium carbonate will give us additional flexibility to utilize our vertically integrated network of assets while reducing the need for third-party lithium metal,” Graves continued.
“This will further enhance the competitiveness of our butyllithium and lithium specialty chemicals business and help us create the scale needed to meet the growing demand for next-generation battery materials developed from lithium metal.”
Arcadium represents the largest established lithium metal producer in North America. Its key products include high-purity lithium metal (HPM) and LIOVIX − a proprietary printable lithium metal formulation, for primary battery applications and next-generation batteries. The company was created through a $10.6 billion merger between Livent and Allkem, two of the leading players in the lithium industry.
Keshav Kochhar, CEO of Li-Metal, said the sale of the company’s lithium metal technology to Arcadium represents a “pivotal milestone” in its journey. “This transaction validates the exceptional work of our dedicated team in advancing lithium metal production through our patented carbonate-to-metal process.”
“The capital generated from this sale allows for continued development of our ultra-thin, high energy density anodes for next-generation batteries. This investment will further solidify our commitment to pioneering innovations in battery technology.”, Kochhar added.
