The Argentina lithium subsidiary of POSCO Holdings (NYSE: PKX) has secured a major loan to advance its flagship Sal de Oro operation in the Salar del Hombre Muerto salt pan.
Latin American law firms reported Tuesday that the company will receive up to US$668 million from various banks. POSCO Argentina obtained the first US$42 million tranche on Apr. 25.
The Buenos Aires-based Alfaro Abagados (lawyers) were responsible for advising POSCO on this financial matter. According to a representative from the French bank BNP Paribas (EPA: BNP), the Argentine law firm Tavarone, Rovelli, Salim & Miani was quite influential too.
“Tavarone has been instrumental in achieving this financing,” BNP’s Noe Benetti said. “The coordinator of the export credit agencies relied on the local law firm’s knowledge of Argentine regulations to be able to structure resilient financing.”
Acquiring this loan is a significant achievement for POSCO. It follows a US$411.9 million financing secured last January for first phase development of the asset and construction of its plant.
Sal de Oro is one of the country’s most notable lithium brine operations. It will begin producing 23,000 tons of lithium carbonate per annum next summer.
That chemical compound is the most important lithium product with the highest volume of commercial transactions, POSCO says. The Salar del Hombre Muerto salt flat is situated in the Salta and Catamarca provinces, spanning 600 square kilometres.
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POSCO partners with Honda; progresses joint venture with Lithium South
The POSCO subsidiary Future M recently initiated a partnership with Japan’s Honda Motors (TYO: 7267). They will focus on the production of cathode materials for electric vehicle batteries.
“We are expecting that the POSCO Group’s ‘full value chain’ for battery materials, which includes elemental materials such as lithium and nickel, cathode and anode materials, future battery materials, and recycling, will be of great help to Honda’s strategy to expand its electric vehicle business,” POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-Woo said last month.
A formal joint venture agreement will be signed by the end of this year.
POSCO is also actively involved in a joint venture with Lithium South Development Corporation (TSX-V: LIS) (OTCQB: LISMF) (Frankfurt: OGPQ). Further, the companies are currently developing a series of claim blocks at Lithium South’s Hombre Muerto North operation and will be splitting the production yield.
Late last month, POSCO received its third consecutive Sustainability Champion award from the World Steel Association for admirable ESG practices in its primary industry.
Lithium South Development Corporation is a sponsor of Mugglehead news coverage
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