(Energy Analytics Institute, 20.Nov.2024) — ExxonMobil Corporation and LG Chem inked a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a multiyear offtake agreement for up to 100,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate.
ExxonMobil will source the lithium from a planned US project that will eventually supply LG Chem’s cathode plant in Tennessee, the Spring, Texas-based energy company said 20 Nov. 2024 in an official statement. LG Chem expects its plant in Tennessee will be the largest of its kind in the US.
“America needs secure domestic supply of critical minerals like lithium,” ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions president Dan Ammann said in the statement.
LG Chem’s Tennessee cathode plant broke ground in Dec. 2023 and is expected to have an annual production capacity of 60,000 tons. The plant offers excellent geographic accessibility for both customer deliveries and raw material imports, ExxonMobil said.
A final investment decision (FID) will be subject to various factors including the establishment of commercially competitive regulatory frameworks, according to ExxonMobil.
The planned production of MobilTM Lithium will utilize Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology, aligning seamlessly with ExxonMobil’s core competencies in subsurface exploration, drilling, and chemical processing. ExxonMobil said the approach offers US 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.
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