F - Ford secures lithium through key deal with Australian miner

Ford Motor Company ( NYSE: F ) inked a five-year deal with Australian miner Liontown Resources Ltd ( OTC:LINRF ) to secure 150,000 dry metric tonnes of lithium spodumene concentrate each year. The lithium spodumeme will be sourced from Liontown's flagship Kathleen Valley project in Western Australia.

Liontown Resources is expected to start supplying spodumene to Ford ( F ) in 2024. The company said it has secured a debt facility of A$300M from a Ford unit to further develop the Kathleen Valley project and potentially increase capacity. Notably, Liontown also has offtake deals in place with Tesla and LG Energy Solutions.

Ford ( F ) has an overall target to boost electric vehicle manufacturing significantly over the next three years to as high as two millions EVs produced a year. The concentrate secured in the Liontown deal is a source of lithium essential for making EVs at that scale. "This is one of several agreements we're working on to help us secure raw materials to support our plan to deliver EVs for customers around the world," noted Ford ( F ) vice president of electric vehicle industrialization Lisa Drake.

Shares in Liontown ended the trading day in Sydney up 5.2% . Ford ( F ) traded flat in the premarket session in the U.S.

For further details see: