Deal would hand Rio Tinto lithium mines in Argentina and Australia, as well as processing facilities in the US, China, Japan and the UK.
Rio Tinto is already a top producer of another coveted battery metal, copper, and has set as goal to produce one million tonnes of the metal annually within the next five years.
Arcadium was created in January from the merger of Philadelphia-based Livent and Australia’s Allkem. Its shares have fallen since, dragged by declining lithium prices, which in turn is a result of weaker demand from electric vehicle (EV) makers and Chinese oversupply.
On the news of Rio’s approach, Arcadium shares went ballistic, rising almost 46% on Monday in Sydney at A$6.09 each. In New York, the stock shot up 60% in pre-market trading, but pared some of those gains later to trade 30% at $3.08 apiece as of 8:00 am local time. That leaves the American lithium miner with a market capitalization of $3.3 billion.
BMO…
