The Russian miner wants to recover $271 million it lost when a state-backed company failed to complete the acquisition of a 50% stake in its Nkomati mine in South Africa.
The company has officially informed workers of its plans to offload the mine, noting that while there are several interested parties, the process could take months.
The Canadian miner, the world’s largest producer of the fertilizer by capacity, expects strong demand to continue this year as North American farmers seek to replenish soil nutrients after record harvests.
The European country holds between 1.2 to 1.4 million tonnes of lithium, located mostly around the tiny village of Cinovec, on the border with Germany.
The firm, the world's largest primary silver producer and Mexico's second-largest gold miner, said output of the grey precious metal hit 13.5 million ounces in the quarter.
The miner said decision was unrelated to Elliott Management's call earlier this month to unlock shareholder value by spinning off about $22 billion of BHP's US oil assets.
Shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of the cash takeover, which will make the South African firm the world's No.3 palladium producer and No.4 platinum group metals miner.