Rio Tinto has placed its Serbian Jadar project on care and maintenance as part of chief executive officer Simon Trott’s push to streamline operations and focus capital on higher-priority lithium assets.
As reported by The Australian Financial Review, the move follows regulatory delays and strong community opposition in Serbia. Jadar, discovered in 2004, was once slated for a $3.7 billion ($US2.4 billion) investment.
The decision reflects reprioritisation rather than retreat. Rio reaffirmed its commitment to building a world-class lithium business, with integration of its $US7.6 billion Arcadium Lithium acquisition “progressing to plan,” expanding its presence across key brine and hard-rock jurisdictions.
In Argentina, Rio’s Rincon project has completed final testing of its 3,000 tonne per annum (tpa) starter plant, with a 57,000tpa expansion expected to begin in the third quarter, pending permits. Once fully operational, Rincon will produce 60,000tpa of battery-grade lithium carbonate for 40 years at first-quartile costs.
Last week, Rio awarded Clean TeQ Water a $19.2 million contract to supply a lithium concentrate softening plant using its proprietary CLEAN-IX Moving Bed Ion Exchange (MBIX) technology.
“One of the really good things about having options, and we’ve got lots of options in the lithium space, is that the bar is really high, and so we can look at those projects and progress the very best of them,” Trott said at a Goldman Sachs event in London last month.
Analysis by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence in May this year said Rio Tinto is on track to become the world’s second-largest lithium miner by 2035.
Benchmark’s analysis sees Rio in second spot, sitting only behind Albemarle and just above Pilbara Minerals (PLS).
The company’s partnership with Chilean state-owned miner Codelco marks another bold step into lithium for the major and could be the move that pushes other mining majors to reconsider their position on the fast-growing battery mineral.
Under the agreement, Rio Tinto will invest up to $US900 million ($1.4 billion) to develop the Salar de Maricunga lithium project in Chile’s high Andes, acquiring a 49.99 per cent interest in Salar de Maricunga SpA, the vehicle through which Codelco holds its licences and concessions.
Subscribe to Australian Resources & Investment and receive the latest news on commodity prices, resource developments, executive movements and more.