October 2024
- Analysis
- Lithium
WA lithium miners get a Rio reality check, with a silver lining
When it looked past the raft of hard rock lithium miners in its own backyard, Rio Tinto made a big statement about the future of the lithium industry.
- Peter Ker
- Analysis
- Mining
Acquisitive miners like Rio should remember size isn’t everything
Just because you own the world’s biggest resource of a critical mineral, doesn’t guarantee you can get it out of the ground profitably.
- Peter Ker
Rio Tinto makes $9.9b bet on lithium comeback
Takeover target Arcadium Lithium says Rio Tinto’s offer to pay a 90 per cent premium reflects “full and fair” value amid a lithium bear market.
- Updated
- Peter Ker
- Opinion
- Mining
Why Australian miners are feeling anxious
The market and the miners were primed for good news from Beijing but they didn’t get it. Now it’s back to basics – or bids like Rio Tinto’s for Arcadium.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Updated
- Mergers & acquisitions
Rio Tinto explores blockbuster Arcadium Lithium takeover approach
A bid would continue bold deal making at the big end of the mining sector, with BHP unsuccessfully trying to acquire Anglo American in May.
- Peter Ker and Joanne Tran
- Analysis
- Mergers & acquisitions
A Rio Tinto bid for Arcadium makes sense, if the dollars stack up
Rio boss Jakob Stausholm has given investors every reason to believe reports that a lithium deal is imminent.
- Peter Ker
Steer clear of Rio Tinto’s $5.8b bid, Arcadium shareholder urges board
Riordan and Teran aren’t trying to quash a potential takeover, but they say it has to be at the right price – and that Rio needs to be thinking around the $US8 billion mark.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
August 2024
More exclusive than any restaurant: how top deal makers dine
Investment banks and law firms have fostered a thriving in-house dining scene where they can break bread away from prying eyes.
- Aaron Weinman
Arcadium flags it may have to shut Mt Cattlin amid low lithium prices
The chief executive of the world’s third-biggest lithium company, Paul Graves, says few mines make sense at current prices.
- Peter Ker
January 2024
Australia’s best lithium mine to taper production in boost for rivals
IGO Limited confirmed production at Greenbushes was likely to be “marginally reduced” because the mine’s owners had ordered less volume than expected.
- Peter Ker
December 2023
Rinehart-backed miner wants short-selling reform
Two more chief executives have pleaded for critical minerals companies to get regulatory protection from short-sellers who bet on share prices falling.
- Peter Ker
Allkem shareholders green-light $9.7b Livent merger
The merged group will have the capacity to produce and process lithium in Argentina, Canada, the US, Australia, Japan, and China.
- Updated
- Elouise Fowler
Lithium heavyweights on cusp of sealing Azure partnership
The battle for control of lithium explorer Azure Minerals is expected to become clearer this week as major investors get close to a cooperation pact.
- Peter Ker
Allkem lithium merger splits pension funds
An $11 billion merger of Livent and Allkem is on track to secure the requisite shareholder support on Tuesday even though AustralianSuper is expected to oppose.
- Peter Ker and Joanne Tran
Allkem’s Aussie lithium will go to China despite IRA riches
The Mt Cattlin mine in Western Australia could in theory qualify for US subsidies, but its owner will keep shipping to China.
- Peter Ker
Allkem-Livent’s $9b lithium merger wins proxy support
The biggest lithium merger of this year has won support from Glass Lewis ahead of a shareholder vote later this month.
- Peter Ker
October 2023
The five wizards of OZ Minerals storm the C-suite
The former members of the senior leadership team have won CEO roles elsewhere since the BHP takeover, as rivals try to tap into the former copper miner’s unique culture.
- Peter Ker
Bowen’s $387b nuclear price tag ‘doesn’t make sense’
A Westinghouse Electric executive argued bringing nuclear into the energy grid could be done far more cheaply, as the Coalition said it would consider overturning the ban.
- Jenny Wiggins
September 2023
Allkem flags $640m cost blowout across three major projects
It is the latest critical minerals group to face higher expenses. But chief executive Martin Perez de Solay said the outlook for lithium remained strong.
- Elouise Fowler
July 2023
Leo Lithium, backed by Chinese giant, inks $520m deal to mine in Africa
The company is a joint venture partner with Ganfeng in the Goulamina hard rock lithium project in the south of Mali.
- Elouise Fowler