Global Lithium leader SQM to buy into Kidman’s Mt Holland project
SQM (NYSE; US$10.4b market cap) last month announced its intention to buy-in to Kidman’s world-class Mt Holland (MH) project. SQM has confirmed it will develop MH as an integrated spodumene-refinery project, developing both the upstream mine and concentrator operation (essentially fully funded by SQM) and with a local downstream refinery.
By way of background, Kidman’s MH project boasts a world class hard-rock Lithium resource of 128mt @ 1.44% Li2O with high-margin orebody attributes, and in close proximity to existing underutilised infrastructure. Ideally located in Southern WA on existing granted mining leases, and amid a multi-year Lithium bull market, we were excited by the strategic nature of the MH asset and in turn its emerging value. MH is the biggest and best undeveloped hard-rock lithium resource globally, and importantly, can economically supply a high value-add local downstream refinery to produce Lithium Carbonate &/or Lithium Hydroxide, both being key products of our Electric Vehicle thematic. Kidman management had cleverly not given away their project’s offtake rights to Chinese downstream players, and instead pursued the higher value-add strategic path…