Compass Minerals signed a binding, multiyear supply agreement with LG Energy Solution (LGES) to provide battery-grade lithium carbonate from its Ogden, Utah, solar evaporation lithium brine development. Compass will deliver up to 40% of its planned, phase-one battery-grade lithium carbonate production to LGES for an initial 6-year term from supply commencement. Purchase pricing will be based on the market index under the agreement.
As previously announced, the company expects an annual commercial production capacity of approximately 35,000 metric tons (mt) of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) once fully operational, with an initial phase-one capacity of approximately 11,000 mt battery-grade lithium carbonate coming online by 2025.
“This binding supply agreement represents an important milestone for our company’s entry into a rapidly growing domestic lithium market,” said Chris Yandell, head of lithium for Compass Minerals. “We are excited to partner with a proven manufacturing leader like LGES to help enable the buildout of a robust and secure advanced battery supply chain.”
Compass Minerals is pursuing the sustainable development of an approximately 2.4-million-mt LCE resource on the Great Salt Lake, readily available for extraction through existing permits, water rights and operational infrastructure at the company’s Ogden facility, the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.