Australia's richest person predicted to be 'Lithium Queen'

Billionaire Gina Rinehart is predicted by Forbes to be the world's first "Lithium Queen" as she continuously invests in this important metal used in electric vehicles.

As Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart has an estimated fortune of $26 billion, according to Forbes . Recently, the billionaire has continuously invested in lithium, an important mineral used in electric car batteries.

In the past two months, she has made two bold deals that have disrupted the plans of other companies in the industry. The first was the purchase of 19.9% of Liontown Resources, an emerging lithium miner in Australia. The move forced Albemarle (USA) to abandon its $4.2 billion takeover offer for Liontown.

Second, her purchase of a 15.4% stake in Azure Minerals also disrupted the plans of Sociedad Quimica y Minera (SQM), Chile's leading lithium group, which had previously planned to acquire Azure Minerals.

The two deals follow an earlier investment in Vulcan Energy Resources, which is developing a lithium and geothermal energy project in Germany’s Rhine Valley. Gina Rinehart has spent an estimated $1.5 billion on lithium investments to date.

Billionaire Gina Rinehart. Photo: Hancock Prospecting — Billionaire Gina Rinehart. Photo: *Hancock Prospecting*

The financing for the deals comes from the strong performance of her iron ore company, Hancock Prospecting, which posted a profit of $3.3 billion in the last fiscal year.

One feature of the billionaire’s lithium investment is that much of it has come as prices for the metal have fallen. Abundant lithium production, particularly in China, has caused the price of lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide to fall more than 70% in the past 12 months, from about $82,000 per ton to $22,000 per ton, forcing some producers to halt production until prices rise.

Similar to what happened in 2017, supply outstripped demand, causing the stock prices of most lithium exploration and mining companies to plummet. Applying the strategy of legendary investor Warren Buffett: buy when others are fearful, Ms. Rinehart decided to put her money in.

Despite her mining experience, Rinehart’s lithium business may need some fine-tuning and technical support going forward. Forbes says she has three potential partners to help.

The first is Albemarle’s chemistry, if it still has a stake in Liontown. The second is SQM’s relationship with Azure Minerals, which is building a processing facility in Australia with local partner Wesfarmers.

Rinehart’s third and most likely lithium processing partner is South Korea’s Posco, which is developing a lithium cathode material business for batteries in the US, investing in a lithium mine in Argentina and a lithium processing plant in South Korea.

Posco is also a shareholder in Rinehart’s most profitable business, the Roy Hill iron ore mine, along with joint ownership of the Senex gas business in eastern Australia. The group has expressed interest in Australian lithium and has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Ms. Rinehart.

The agreement, in the form of a memorandum of understanding, outlines interests in lithium, nickel and copper, as well as advanced forms of value-added iron ore processing. With Ms. Rinehart collecting lithium from the ground and Posco having the technical skills to produce it, a partnership could be formed.

Phien An ( according to Forbes )

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