Houston, July 6th (Argus) - Italian energy company Eni has invested 225 million US dollars to acquire a minority stake in the Black Giant lithium carbonate production project of US energy technology company EnergyX in Chile.
This investment gives the Eni Group the right to receive 25% of the future lithium output of the project. The project is planned to reach 52,500 tons per year, with potential expansion to 150,000 tons per year.
The project will be developed in two phases. It will start at 7,500 tons per year in 2028 and expand to 52,500 tons per year by 2030.
Before investing in Eni, the US Export-Import Bank also provided Eni with a debt financing interest letter of 690 million US dollars.
The Black Giant project is located in the Antofagasta region in northern Chile. The capital and operating expenditures are estimated to be 14,500 US dollars per ton and 2,944 US dollars per ton respectively.
EnergyX is also conducting the Lonestar project in eastern Texas, with the goal of obtaining 14,250 tons per year of lithium hydroxide by 2028 and 48,500 tons per year by 2030.
Other investors of EnergyX include General Motors and Posco.
