‘Jackpot’ of lithium lake that POSCO acquired for 300 billion won… Sales forecast of 35 trillion won

-As the price of lithium has more than doubled recently, POSCO predicts that the accumulated sales of lithium stored in the salt lake of Argentina’s’Hombre Muerto’ acquired in 2018 will reach 35 trillion won.

According to POSCO on the 3rd, the spot price of lithium carbonate in China has more than doubled, surpassing $11,000 per ton last month from 5,000 dollars per ton in July last year. Accordingly, POSCO predicts that if lithium stored in the salt lake in Argentina is produced and sold at the current market price, the accumulated sales will reach 35 trillion won.

In August 2018, POSCO signed a contract to acquire Argentine salt lakes with an area of ​​17,500 ha for 280 million dollars (approximately 310 billion won) from Galaxy Resources, Australia.

At the end of last year, POSCO confirmed that the lithium reserves in Salt Lake were 13.5 million tons, six times higher than the estimated 2.2 million tons at the time of acquisition. The verification of lithium reserves was conducted by Montgomery & Associates of the United States, the industry’s leading global salt solution lithium consultancy, in accordance with internationally recognized regulations. This is a level that can produce about 370 million electric vehicles. As the electric vehicle market is growing worldwide, including China, the price of lithium, an essential material for electric vehicle batteries, is expected to continue to rise. It is also actively promoting investment in nickel, a key raw material for cathode materials that make up secondary batteries. Nickel, along with lithium, is a material that is directly connected to the performance of the battery. POSCO plans to secure its own supply of nickel for batteries through recycling (recycling) projects using waste batteries and investments in nickel mines in Australia and other countries. In addition, it will diversify the supply and demand of graphite, a raw material for anode material that is currently entirely dependent on China In order to do so, it acquired a 15% stake in Black Rock Mining, an Australian mining company that owns a graphite mine in Tanzania, Africa.

Meanwhile, by 2030, POSCO will establish its own supply system for lithium, nickel, and graphite, which are raw materials for secondary battery materials, and POSCO Chemical plans to establish a production system of 400,000 tons of cathode materials and 260,000 tons of anode materials using these materials. Through this, POSCO Group plans to complete a material value chain that produces from raw materials to secondary battery materials, the only one in the world.

[서울=뉴시스]