Posted on 21 Feb 2025
Mining giant Rio Tinto plans to spend $500 million on its Rincón lithium project in Argentina this year, its chief financial officer Peter Cunningham said in an earnings call.
The London-listed firm has approved an investment of $2.5 billion to expand the project, it’s first commercial-scale lithium operation, to a capacity of 60,000 tonnes/year of battery-grade lithium carbonate. First production at pilot scale was achieved last year, 32 months after the asset acquisition.
As it moves to “create a world-class lithium business,” the focus this year is to apply the direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology and increase spending allocation once the Arcadium acquisition is completed.
Chief executive officer Jakob Stausholm says he will visit the project in March, when Rio expects to close the Arcadium acquisition. Then, the company will release an investment plan for its lithium business, considering both Rincón and the assets transferred from Arcadium.
“It goes without saying, there are certain things you can’t do before you have closed the deal. And from there on, we will very quickly develop a plan for exactly where investments will happen and how fast we can ramp them up,” he explains.
“Combining our Rincón learnings, technology, and balance sheet with Arcadium’s expertise will allow us to realise the full potential of Arcadium’s assets,” Stausholm adds. “Enhancing our existing operations and evolving our portfolio in line with demand provides a strong base for us to succeed in the short, medium, and long term. Yes, we can expect more global volatility in the year ahead, but our strategy enables us to be resilient in an uncertain world and capture new opportunities as they arise.”
The company did not provide an update on its Jadar lithium project in Serbia. Last October, Rio reiterated its interest in the asset despite the $6.7 billion Arcadium takeover. The final investment decision on Rincón was made in December.
“We are excited as we head into 2025, with all the building blocks for an incredibly successful, diversified and growing business in place,” concludes Stausholm.
Rio posted a net profit of $11.6 billion in 2024, which is 15% higher than in 2023. (See related stories)
Source:Kallanish
