An executive said Wednesday that Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) is building a battery test plant in an Australian research hub to understand better how its minerals can work for battery makers.
Rio bought the Rincon lithium mine in Argentina after launching its battery materials company in 2021. Due to community resistance, it has halted plans to create a huge lithium mine in Serbia at its Melbourne research hub.
“I have just spent some time at Bundoora, where we are constructing an end-to-end battery laboratory to improve our understanding of battery production, manufacturing, and chemistry,” said Sinead Kaufman, minerals division CEO.
“At this lab we will build our own batteries, allowing us to test how our minerals and other products will perform in real-world applications, such as electric vehicle batteries,” she told a mining conference.
Kaufman predicted a supply-demand gap in the second half of this decade as lithium consumption will grow five-fold by 2030.
November should see the battery plant functioning.
