Rio Tinto Building Australian Battery Lab to Test Minerals
28 June 2023 - 9:15AM
Dow Jones News
By Rhiannon Hoyle
Rio Tinto, the world's second-biggest miner by market value, is
building a battery lab in Australia where it can test how the
commodities it produces work in the likes of electric-vehicle
batteries, said the company's minerals chief, Sinead Kaufman.
In prepared remarks for an industry forum on Wednesday, Kaufman
said Rio Tinto's battery lab in Melbourne is expected to be
operational by November and is intended to improve the miner's
understanding of battery production, manufacturing and
chemistry.
"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," said Kaufman.
Rio Tinto, which today relies heavily on steel ingredient iron
ore for the bulk of its earnings, set up a battery materials
business in 2021 as part of a strategy to expand production of
commodities essential to a clean-energy transition. Last year, it
spent $825 million on the Rincon project in Argentina, where it
aims to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate from raw brine.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 27, 2023 19:00 ET (23:00 GMT)
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