Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. will acquire Argentina-focused lithium explorer LitheA Inc. for $962 million, as part of the lithium major's efforts to secure supplies of the key battery metal.

LitheA owns the PPG Project, which consists of the Pozuelos and Pastos Grandes lithium salt lake assets in Argentina's Salta province. The project has a posttax net present value of $1.22 billion and an internal rate of return of 30%, Ganfeng said in a July 11 statement.

The project's production target for the first phase is 30,000 tons of lithium carbonate per year, with room to expand to 50,000 tons per year if the resources are shown to support an increase.

"This transaction will help the company further strengthen the layout of upstream lithium resources, increase the company's resource self-sufficiency rate, enhance its core competitiveness, and it complies with the company's upstream and downstream integration and new energy vehicle industry development strategy," Ganfeng said.

The deal does not involve any transfer of the PPG Project's mining rights, which will remain with LitheA.

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