Meanwhile, Nexa Resources, a unit of Votorantim, has just approved a $392 million capital expenditure in a zinc mining project in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.
Rio Tinto and Liberty had announced a binding agreement on the sale of the Dunkirk site, Europe's largest aluminium smelter, in a deal expected to be worth $500 million, subject to final adjustments.
U.S. authorities had given Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska until Dec. 12 to reduce his holdings in the three companies but said in a statement that the deadline had been moved to Jan. 7, 2019.
The deal will see Altura supply Ganfeng with 8,000 tonnes of 6-percent spodumene concentrate this year and a minimum of 70,000 tonnes per year from 2019 to 2021.
Germany has earmarked 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) to support a consortium looking to produce electric car battery cells and plans to fund a research facility to develop next-generation solid-state batteries.