Liontown inks landmark offtake deal with Korean heavyweight

Liontown has executed its first offtake agreement for the Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia after signing a deal with South Korea global battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution.  Expected to commence in 2024, the initial five-year agreement will see Liontown supply LG Energy Solution with up to 150,000 dry metric tonnes (dmt) per annum of spodumene concentrate produced from Kathleen Valley.

This represents approximately one third of the project’s start-up spodumene production capacity of approximately 500,000 tonnes per annum.  LG Energy Solution (LGES) is one of the world’s battery heavyweights, having established itself as a global leader in delivering lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and other applications such as mobility and information technology (IT), and energy storage systems.

This agreement marks the first binding commitment from LGES to acquire Australian-sourced spodumene concentrate and follows on from South Korea President Moon Jae-in’s recent visit to Australia in December, where bolstering the supply of critical minerals to the country was the principal talking point.  Liontown aim to commence production at Kathleen Valley in the second quarter of 2024 with an initial base production of 2.5 million tonnes per annum delivering approximately 500,000 tonnes of spodumene.

CREDIT – Australian Mining