Eramet searches for lithium deposits in Chile, Argentina, Brazil - CEO
TOKYO – French miner Eramet SA is looking to acquire lithium deposits in Chile, Argentina and Brazil to expand its portfolio into the minerals used in batteries for electric vehicles, its CEO said on Thursday.
"Our priority is to develop our existing lithium deposit in Argentina. But we are also looking for other deposits in Chile, Argentina and Brazil," Eramet CEO Christel Bories told a news conference in Tokyo.
The company said earlier this year that it was looking to expand in minerals like lithium, cobalt and nickel salts linked to energy transition markets like electric vehicles.
Eramet plans to make an investment decision in its lithium development project in Argentina in the first half of 2019 with an estimated investment of about €400-million, Bories said.
"If we make a decision in the beginning of next year, we'll start spending then till the end of 2022," she said, adding that the company can "easily finance from its own cash".
Eramet is also looking for potential targets in cobalt deposits, she said. Like lithium, cobalt is a key ingredient in batteries for electric cars.
"It's not easy to find new cobalt deposits that are cost competitive compared to those in Democratic Republic of Congo. But we are looking for it," she said, adding that Eramet is in talks with many junior companies around the world.
"A lots of discussions are going on," she said.
The French company is also eyeing the battery recycling business including developing a way to recover lithium from batteries which is not currently available, she said.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation