IGO Ltd will get its hands on a highly strategic lithium plant...

IGO Ltd will get its hands on a highly strategic lithium plant as part of its planned acquisition of a stake in the Greenbushes lithium mine.

It is understood the $2 billion-odd deal includes IGO Ltd also nabbing a stake in the Tianqi Lithium Corporation's Kwinana lithium plant, which is the world's biggest and first fully automated lithium chemical manufacturing facility outside of China.

The plant, which opened last year, is said to be a significant attraction for IGO Ltd as it prepares its first foray into lithium.
IGO is seeking to buy about a 25 per cent stake in the Greenbushes mine, which is widely regarded as the No.1 lithium project in Australia because of its size and ore. Both sides of the deal were seeking to have an agreement finalised by Wednesday morning, sources said, after Street Talk revealed the transaction on Monday.

The long-term goal is to have Greenbushes' spodumene processed at the Kwinana plant, which was designed to produce 24,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide for its first stage, and 48,000 tonnes once the second stage is completed.