Last month’s lithium merger between Talison Minerals Pty Ltd and Salares Lithium Inc. (see Top Stories p.11) was met with a bout of surprise. But while the immediate short term challenges seem significant, on longer term the move makes sense.
The biggest surprise was Talison’s decision to enter the brine industry this is essentially different business from mining and refining hard rock spodumene. Talison doesn’t sell lithium chemicals such as lithium carbonate and hydroxide but rather the feedstock concentrates to chemical companies.
Just ask Chemetall GmbH and SQM SA why they don’t own mines the two leading carbonate producers are chemical not mining companies. Here, we are referring to mining in the traditional sense. The facilities in the Atacama are essentially a plumbing system of pumps and wells.
The titanium industry is an apt comparison: in a...