NEWS
EV METALS GROUP SIGNS FEED AGREEMENT FOR SAUDI LITHIUM CHEMICALS PLANT
Battery technology company EV Metals Group has announced the signing of a front-end engineering design (FEED) agreement with a subsidiary of Australia’s Wood Group, relating to the development of its flagship Battery Chemicals Complex (BCC) at Yanbu Industrial City in Saudi Arabia. Under the FEED arrangement, Mustang and Faisal Jameel Al Hejailan Consulting Engineering Company will build the first two processing trains for the production of lithium hydroxide monohydrate in the plant. Mustang will focus on non-process infrastructure, utilities and port infrastructure, with the rest of the FEED work to be done by parent company Wood in Perth. EV Metals has worked with Wood over the last two years on feasibility studies for the complex. The BCC will produce high purity chemicals containing lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and other metals needed for high energy density cathode active materials in lithiumion batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy storage. “EVM has identified a critical gap in supply chains for EV manufacturers and battery cell manufacturers which EVM is addressing through the development of a lithium chemicals plant, a nickel chemicals plant and a cathode active materials plant,” said managing director Michael Naylor. The BCC requires an initial investment of US$800 million, with construction of the first two LHM trains to be begin in Q1 2023 ahead of commissioning in H2 2024. 6
