LG Chem to buy lithium from ExxonMobil

US-based ExxonMobil Corporation and South Korea’s LG Chem have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a multiyear offtake agreement for up to 100,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate. The lithium will be supplied from ExxonMobil’s planned project in the US to LG Chem’s cathode plant in Tennessee, which LG Chem expects to be the largest of its kind in the US.

“Building a lithium supply chain with ExxonMobil, one of the world’s largest energy companies, holds great significance,” stated Shin Hak-cheol, CEO of LG Chem. “We will continue to strengthen LG Chem’s competitiveness in the global supply chain for critical minerals.”

Final investment decision will be subject to various factors including the establishment of commercially competitive regulatory frameworks.

The planned production of Mobil Lithium will utilise Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology, aligning seamlessly with ExxonMobil’s core competencies in subsurface exploration, drilling, and chemical processing.

This approach offers US electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturers a domestically extracted and processed lithium supply option which is expected to have substantially lower environmental impacts, including approximately two-thirds less carbon intensity than hard rock mining.