Global lithium chemical producer Arcadium Lithium has announced the acquisition of Li-Metal Corp's lithium metal business. The all-cash acquisition of US$11 million includes the intellectual property and physical assets related to the Canadian company's production, including a pilot plant in Ontario.
By Panorama Minero
Key personnel from Li-Metal's lithium metal business will join Arcadium Lithium as part of the acquisition. Maciej Jastrzebski, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Li-Metal, has signed a consulting agreement with Arcadium Lithium to facilitate technology transfer and integrate the team.
The acquisition is expected to strengthen Arcadium Lithium's position as a leading global producer of lithium metal, providing safer, more cost-effective, and sustainable processes for producing this resource from various grades of lithium carbonate, which the company produces in Argentina. These new capabilities will complement the company's existing process technologies for producing lithium metal at its Bessemer City site in North Carolina, USA, using concentrated lithium chloride from its Güemes plant in Salta, Argentina.
“We are excited to welcome the team to Arcadium Lithium as we aim to lead the development of advanced technology for lithium metal production from lithium carbonate. This small but important acquisition gives us a platform to advance new and better methods for manufacturing lithium metal,” said Paul Graves, President and CEO of Arcadium Lithium. “The ability to produce lithium metal from lithium carbonate will provide us with additional flexibility to utilize our vertically integrated network of assets, reducing the need for third-party lithium metal. This will further enhance the competitiveness of our butyllithium and lithium specialty chemicals business and help us achieve the scale needed to meet the growing demand for next-generation battery materials developed from lithium metal.”
Arcadium Lithium uses lithium metal to manufacture specialty lithium products, including high-purity lithium metal (HPM) and LIOVIX® − a proprietary printable lithium metal formulation, useful for primary and next-generation battery applications. The company also processes lithium metal into butyllithium, used in the manufacture of lightweight "green" tires, among other applications, as well as specialty lithium chemicals used in medicine, agriculture, electronics, and other industries.
