Rio Tinto to Avoid Big Acquisitions in Lithium Industry, Turning to Improvement of Extraction Technology

Rio Tinto will avoid making any large acquisitions in the lithium industry for the tome being, but will look into ways to improve the lithium extraction technology, stated the CEO of Rio Tino, Jakob Stausholm.

– The ongoing uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) will ensure that demand for lithium will continue to grow, but the price of the precious metal could be volatile – Stausholm said on Sunday at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference.

A recent drop in demand for EVs has caused a fall in lithium prices, with a basket tracked by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence dropping more than 80% in the past 12 months.

This has prompted mining companies such as BHP to steer clear of investing in the metal.

However, Rio Tinto remains one of the few large mining companies willing to invest in lithium, reports Mining Technology.

– We have taken a consistent view that prices of battery materials will be volatile. Ideally, you will need more battery capacity, so it's not just batteries for EVs but also stationary batteries. So the world will have more batteries, I have no doubt about that. And therefore you need more lithium – Stausholm told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference in Toronto.

Rio Tinto’s Rincon project in Argentina has an annual capacity of 3,000 tons, and production is expected to start by the end of 2024.

Elsewhere, Chile’s Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel, voiced his desire to have three or four new lithium projects operational by 2026. Chile has launched its National Strategy for Lithium, under which there will be public-private partnerships (PPPs) across the entire industrial cycle of lithium production.

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BHP

Ministry of Finance of Chile

Mario Marcel

Jakob Stausholm

Rincon

lithium

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electric vehicles

EV batteries

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