Lithium Power International Shareholders Approves Sale to Chile's Codelco

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Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--On Tuesday, Lithium Power International's (LPI) (New South Wales, Australia) shareholders approved the sale of 100% of their shares to Codelco (Santiago, Chile), the national Chilean miner. The acquisition agreement was reached in October at 0.57 Australian dollars per share, amounting to 385 million Australian dollars (US$244 million), pending the shareholder vote.

The next step in the acquisition is its approval by the Australian Federal Court, which is expected on February 13. Codelco said in a statement the acquisition is anticipated to be finalized by February 23.

Located in Chile's Atacama desert, LPI's Maricunga lithium project is better known as the Blanco project. It is located near Codelco's own Maricunga Salar properties. The asset has resources of 1.905 million tons of lithium carbonate equivalent and 4.950 million tons of potassium chloride. The project's operating expense is US$3,718 per ton, excluding the credit for potassium chloride byproduct. LPI's project is estimated to have a 15,200-ton capacity per year of lithium carbonate equivalent.

The acquisition is part of Codelco's strategy to expand its presence in Chile's lithium market following Chilean President Gabriel Boric government's nationalization of the lithium industry. The national lithium strategy calls for Codelco's access to all lithium operations.

This has triggered a wave of negotiations with companies such as Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM) (NYSE:SQM) (Santiago) and Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) (Charlotte, North Carolina).

Codelco President Maximo Pacheco said,"With this purchase, Codelco consolidates its mining property in the Maricunga Salar and advances in the configuration of a world-class project, which will also have exceptional credentials for environmental sustainability and community relations. It also positions us in our strategy of becoming leaders in the production of critical minerals for the energy transition."

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project and Plant databases can click here for reports linked to Codelco's Salar de Maricunga Lithium Carbonate and Potassium Chloride project, and click here for the related plant profile.

In December, Codelco also closed an agreement with SQM over the creation of a public-private partnership across its lithium assets. This will allow the Chilean miner to maintain a majority stake in its operations, which includes SQM's Salar del Carmen, one of the nation's lithium producing mines.

Chile holds the world's third-largest lithium resources with 11 million tons, according to the United States Geological Survey, and it is the world's second-largest lithium producer.

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