POSCO Holdings said on the 30th that it signed an equity investment deal worth about $765 million (1.1 trillion won) in a lithium mine with Mineral Resources, an Australian mining and mining services corporations.
It puts into concrete terms the lithium mine investment plan released in Nov. last year, with Mineral Resources and a new intermediate holding company to be established to acquire a 30% equity stake in the company. It was carried out to strengthen competitiveness in the supply chain for battery material raw materials.
The joint venture LithiumCo will mine lithium concentrate at the Wodgina and Mt. Marion mines in Western Australia. With this deal, POSCO Holdings secured the right to be supplied with 30% of the lithium concentrate.
Wodgina and Mount Marion are premier lithium mines representing Australia. The Wodgina mine has high-grade concentrate at about 5.5% and holds reserves of about 6.2 million tons (t) on a lithium carbonate basis. The Mount Marion mine has reserves of 2.2 million t.
Through this equity deal, POSCO Holdings plans not only to secure stable dividends but also to lock in long-term offtake for lithium concentrate, further solidifying the lithium value chain from raw material mines to material production.
POSCO Holdings President Lee Ju-tae said, "This collaboration is meaningful in that it contributes to stabilizing the global battery material supply chain by combining Mineral Resources' mine operations capabilities with POSCO Holdings' downstream processing technology."
Chris Ellison, CEO of Mineral Resources, said, "This partnership is a monumental example of a major Korean corporations investing in Australia's lithium industry," and added, "We will focus all our capabilities so that the Wodgina and Mount Marion mines can fully realize their potential as a lithium asset."
POSCO Holdings has recently signed back-to-back deals to acquire additional Argentine lithium brine assets and invest in Australian ore lithium, carrying out as planned the "preemptive securing of high-quality global resources" strategy that has been emphasized since Chairman Chang In-hwa took office.