Rio Tinto Receives Regulatory Clearances to Acquire Lithium Miner Arcadium

Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) (London, England) has received all the required approvals for the US$6.7 billion acquisition of Arcadium Lithium plc (NYSE:ALTM) (Shannon, Ireland), one of the world's leading lithium miners. The closing transaction is expected to take place on March 6.

The approvals include merger clearances from Australia, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, the U.K. and the U.S., as well as investment screenings in several countries.

Rio Tinto's acquisition of Arcadium is a strategic move aimed at positioning the British-Australian group among the largest lithium producers worldwide. Rather than waiting years to develop its assets, Rio Tinto will quickly become a diversified and significant lithium producer.

Arcadium owns and operates the Salar del Hombre Muerto and Olaroz mines in Argentina. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Plant Database can click here for the Salar del Hombre Muerto plant profile and click here for the Olaroz plant profile.

Arcadium also owns the Cauchari and Sal de Vida projects, both under development. Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Metals & Minerals Project Database can click here for the Cauchari project reports and click here for the Sal de Vida project reports.

The company also holds a 100% stake in spodumene concentrate mines in Australia and Canada. Additionally, Arcadium owns lithium processing plants in China, the U.S., Japan, Canada and the U.K. According to an October company statement, Rio Tinto and Arcadium's combined assets represent the world's largest lithium resource base.

Arcadium has a production capacity of 75,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent across its assets, with plans to more than double the capacity by the end of 2028.

For its part, Rio Tinto is currently developing the Rincon project in Argentina. The mine is expected to have a capacity of 60,000 tons per year of battery-grade lithium carbonate, representing the company's first commercial-scale lithium operation. Rio Tinto has already announced investments of US$2.5 billion to develop the asset. Subscribers can click here for the project reports and here for the plant profile.

Rio Tinto also owns the Jadar project in Serbia, which closed in 2022 after widespread opposition. However, in July, the Serbian government reinstated the Jadar project plan, although the company still must meet several requirements before making a final investment decision. Subscribers can click here for the project report and here for the plant profile.

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