Canada-based Lithium Americas has entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with China's Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium to develop lithium resources in the Americas.
The relationship will combine Lithium Americas' experience in Argentina's Jujuy province and in the US state of Nevada, with Ganfeng's capabilities of converting brine and hard rock concentrate into battery-grade lithium products, Lithium Americas said.
Lithium Americas is developing the Cauchari-Olaroz project in Argentina, which is expected to start production in 2020 at a rate of 25,000 t/yr of lithium carbonate. Ganfeng, the financing and offtake partner for the project, has agreed to acquire Chile-based Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile's (SQM) interest in the project for an initial $87.5mn payment and a deferred payment of $50mn subject to production targets being met.
Lithium Americas, which owns the Thacker Pass project in Nevada, will own 62.5pc of the Cauchari-Olaroz project, and Ganfeng will own 37.5pc once the deal with SQM has been completed.
Ganfeng is one of China's largest value-added lithium producers. It is expected to have capacity of 40,000 t/yr of lithium carbonate and 30,000 t/yr of lithium hydroxide, or 75,000 t/yr of lithium carbonate equivalent by the end of 2018. It has an offtake agreement with Australian developer Pilbara Minerals for the first stage of its Pilgangoora lithium project in Western Australia and owns 43.1pc of the Mt Marion lithium project in Western Australia, where it is the offtake partner.
Technical teams from Lithium Americas and Ganfeng will collaborate on ways to increase design efficiencies and use Ganfeng's technical and project execution experience of producing battery-quality lithium carbonate from concentrated brine.
