Rio Tinto completes takeover of lithium producer Arcadium

The British-Australian mining group Rio Tinto has finalised the takeover of the lithium producer Arcadium from the USA, which was announced in October. The 6.7 billion US dollar deal makes Rio Tinto one of the largest lithium producers in the world.

Arcadium’s lithium is used in the electric car batteries of manufacturers such as BMW, Ford, GM, Tesla and Toyota – demonstrating how significant the acquisition of Arcadium is for Rio Tinto. Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm explained, “Today we are delighted to welcome the employees of Arcadium to Rio Tinto. Together, we are accelerating our efforts to source, mine and produce minerals needed for the energy transition.” Stausholm added: “By combining Rio Tinto’s scale, financial strength, operational and project development experience with Arcadium’s Tier 1 assets, technical and commercial capabilities, we are creating a world-class lithium business which sits alongside our leading iron ore, aluminium and copper operations.”

Rio Tinto will now operate as the parent company of Arcadium Lithium, which will be renamed Rio Tinto. The company will also house the Rincon lithium project, Rio Tinto’s first commercial lithium operation, which is expected to produce up to 60,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate per year in Argentina. Rio Tinto announced an investment of 2.5 billion US dollars there in December.

The acquisition will make Rio Tinto a leading global supplier of materials for the energy transition and a major lithium producer with one of the largest lithium resources in the world. Rio Tinto Lithium aims to increase the capacity of its Tier 1 plants to over 200,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) per year by 2028.

riotinto.com