Australian lithium miner Liontown Resources Ltd said on Wednesday that it had signed an agreement to sell spodumene from its flagship project to the battery division of South Korea's LG Chem, sending its shares soaring 13 per cent.
LG Energy Solution, whose customers are Tesla and General Motors, will buy 100000 dry metric tons of (DMT) spodumene, a key raw material for electric car batteries, from Liontown's Kathleen Valley project.
Liontown, along with other lithium companies in the country, such as Vulcan Energy, has struck major supply deals with electric carmakers because the industry is central to a greener future for companies and governments around the world.
The company also said the deal, the first for its project in western Australia, would account for nearly 30 per cent of its annual production in its first year of production and was expected to start operating in 2024.
Liontown added that it had received "a series of strong long-term interest in the Catherine Valley lithium project", but did not provide details.
Its shares saw their biggest rise since October 2021 on Wednesday, rising nearly fivefold in the past year.
