Australian Lithium developer, Liontown Resources and Japanese trading company, Sumitomo Corporation, have teamed up to study the production of lithium hydroxide in Japan.
Liontown will collaborate with Sumitomo to build a supply chain which extends from the mining and processing of lithium concentrates in Australia, to Japan and overseas, providing a stable supply of the metal.
Liontown Resources is developing the Kathleen Valley lithium mine in Western Australia, where the company said is on track to start producing hard rock lithium concentrate in mid-2024 and already has agreements in place to sell lithium from its Kathleen Valley mine to LG Energy Solutions, Tesla and Ford.
A Sumitomo spokesperson said that no further details or financial terms have been set, with the two companies planning to take around two years to conduct the joint study to decide the scale of the production of lithium hydroxide.
