Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto plans to invest $2.5bn in its first commercial-scale lithium production project, at Rincon in Argentina, just two months after agreeing a $6.7bn deal to buy lithium producer Arcadium.
Even though lithium prices have dropped 30 per cent this year amid a global glut that has caused many producers to scale back, Rio is betting the metal will be a core part of its future portfolio because of its essential role in electric vehicle batteries.
Chief executive Jakob Stausholm said the company’s lithium investments were “countercyclical” and that the properties of the Rincon site meant production costs would be cheap and would remain profitable even without a high lithium price.
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