China’s steel demand shifts to higher-grade ore, Rio Tinto exec says
"The demand for high grade ore continues to be strong," chief commercial officer Bold Baatar said.
Altura Mining Ltd said on Friday it had signed multi-year lithium supply contracts with its second-largest shareholder Ningbo Shanshan Co Ltd, sending its shares more than 30% higher.
The Australian miner said it would supply a minimum of 60,000 dry metric tonnes (dmt) of the metal, used to make alloys that make up parts of aircraft and high-speed trains, to the Chinese lithium battery material manufacturer from January 2022.
It will also provide 44,000 dmt of 6% grade lithium ore mineral to Ningbo’s unit Hunan Yongshan Lithium Co Ltd under a separate one-year contract. However, Altura did not disclose any financial details of the contracts.
The deal will make Altura a key supplier to Ningbo’s new lithium chemical plant, which has a planned phase 1 production capacity of 25,000 tonnes per annum lithium carbonate equivalent.
Ningbo Shanshan currently owns a 15.1% stake in Altura.
Altura’s shares soared as much as 30.4% to A$0.073 earlier in the session, their highest level since November 2019.
In March, the miner had secured a financing package worth A$305 million ($208.96 million) to boost its operations amid a delay in resumption of operations of its offtake partners in China due to coronavirus-led restrictions.
($1 = 1.4596 Australian dollars)
(By Sameer Manekar; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
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