Australia's AVZ Minerals in lithium offtake talks, gets Chinese investment

Lithium miners in Australia face an uphill battle for margins, with weak prices for the battery metal expected to persist till the year-end owing to laggard demand from slowing electric vehicle sales.

Australian lithium miner AVZ Minerals said on Monday it would negotiate a supply deal with a unit of China's Suzhou TA&A Ultra Clean Technology Co for products from its Manono Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The unit, Yibin Tianyi Lithium Industry, will also take a 12% stake in AVZ through an issue of shares worth A$14.1 million ($9.67 million), the company said in a statement.

Lithium miners in Australia face an uphill battle for margins, with weak prices for the battery metal expected to persist till the year-end owing to laggard demand from slowing electric vehicle sales.

Under the placement agreement, AVZ will issue about 314.3 million shares to Yibin Tianyi, which would make it the biggest shareholder in the Australian miner, according to Refinitiv data.

The miner said it would use funds raised through the issue to lift its stake in the Manono Lithium and Tin project by 5% to 65%, and also further develop the project.

Shares of the Perth-based miner rose as much as 14% to their highest since late-Sept, compared with a 0.6% jump in the broader market.

Suzhou in a separate announcement said its unit had also signed a deal with battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.