Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
Australia’s Mineral Resources bought shares worth A$158.7 million ($101 million) in Wildcat Resources to raise its stake in the lithium miner to 19.85%, a regulatory filing showed on Tuesday.
The iron ore-lithium miner purchased 186.7 million Wildcat shares on Oct. 28 at A$0.85 each, a 9.7% premium to the stock’s close on Oct. 27.
This share buy-up is suspected to be targeting Wildcat’s emerging Tabba Tabba lithium discovery in Western Australia, local media reported earlier in the day.
The deal is the latest in a slew of lithium raids in Australia, including by Gina Rinehart, the country’s richest person.
Earlier this month, Rinehart-owned Hancock Prospecting built an 18.3% stake in lithium miner Azure Minerals and it also amassed a 19.9% stake in Liontown Resources, which thwarted Albemarle’s takeover bid.
($1 = 1.5696 Australian dollars)
(By Echha Jain; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Savio D’Souza)
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