Industrial giants invest in lithiumFebruary 2010 by Simon...

Industrial giants invest in lithium
February 2010

by Simon Moores, Mark Watts

South Koreas biggest steel producer and the worlds largest car maker invest in lithium developers as the search for supply security heats up.

Keywords: Lithium carbonate, batteries, POSCO, steel, Toyota

The lithium industry received a significant boost last month after some of the worlds biggest industrial powers entered the fray through investments in junior lithium companies.

South Koreas Pohang Iron and Steel Co. (POSCO) and Japanese trader, Toyota Tsusho Corp. 22% owned by the worlds largest car manufacturer Toyota Motor Corp. entered the industry through respective investments in Pan American Lithium (PAL) Inc. (formerly Etna Resources Inc.) and Orocobre Ltd.

POSCO has invested $4.8m. into PAL, a new company which is aiming to produce 10,000 tpa lithium carbonate from a geothermal brine resources in Mexico and 10,000 tpa from an Andean brine in Region III of Chile where the industrys top two producers, SQM SA and Chemetall GmbH...................To read the rest of this article please take a Free Trial*
http://www.indmin.com/Article/2378820/Issue/74108/Industrial-giants-invest-in-lithium.html