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Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) is leaning into lithium, with the company today announcing it will spend $2.5 billion to expand its Rincon project in Argentina – the mining heavyweight’s first commercial-scale lithium operation.
The goal, Rio Tinto says, is to expanding its capacity to 60,000 tonnes per year.
The project – located in Argentina’s Salta province – is built around brine extraction, and is expected to go into production in 2028, with a three-year ramp-up period to follow.
To get to this point, Rio now intends to begin construction on an expanded plant in mid-2025, subject to permitting.
Its parameters for producing 60,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate per year are comprised of the 3,000-tonne starter plant and 57,000-tonne expansion plant, with the overall mine life set at 40 years.
Rio’s chief executive Jakob Stausholm said the project was a key priority for the company, given lithium’s status as an important critical mineral.
“The attractive long-term outlook for lithium driven by the energy transition underpins our investment in Rincon,” he said.
“We are dedicated to developing this tier one, world-class resource at scale at the low end of the cost curve.
“We are equally committed to meeting the highest ESG standards, leveraging our advanced technology to halve the amount of water used in processing while continuing to grow our mutually beneficial partnerships with local communities and Salta province.”
Rio Tinto shares fell after the news, and at 12:10 AEDT, they were trading at $121.62 – a drop of 2.04% since the market opened.
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