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Lithium producer Allkem inks $130M Sal de Vida project financing with World Bank member IFC

Kitco Media
By Vladimir Basov
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(Kitco News) - Lithium producer Allkem (TSX: AKE) announced Tuesday the signing of a US$130M project financing facility with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for Allkem’s Sal de Vida project located in Catamarca Province, Argentina.

In a statement, the company said that an IFC project financing facility for the development of Sal de Vida project stage 1 has been signed for up to US$130M over a ten-year period consisting of a loan of up to $100M and another loan of up to $30M.

Allkem added that the company is also in discussions with another lender to increase the project finance facility by a further $50M, for a total financing package of $180M.

The company said that this project financing facility has been structured as a green and sustainability-linked loan.

Managing Director and CEO Martin Perez de Solay commented, “We are proud to partner with IFC to ensure long-term safe and sustainable operations, responsible products, and thriving communities. We are committed to the highest sustainability standards for Sal de Vida so that it will contribute to the economy of Catamarca via local employment, the development of local supply chains, and community development programs."

Allkem is a speciality lithium chemicals company with lithium brine operations in Argentina, a hard-rock lithium operation in Australia and a lithium hydroxide conversion facility in Japan. The company also develops the James Bay spodumene project in Quebec, Canada.

Sal de Vida is a tier 1 brine project located in Catamarca Province on the Salar del Hombre Muerto, ~1,400km northwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina and ~200km from Allkem’s flagship Olaroz lithium facility. Allkem describes Sal de Vida as a globally competitive project with superior brine chemistry that readily upgrades to battery grade lithium carbonate.

IFC — a member of the World Bank Group — is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. In fiscal year 2022, IFC committed a record US$32.8 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries.

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Vladimir Basov

Vladimir (PhD, MEng in Mining) is a professional mining engineer, scientist and analyst that has more than 20 years of practical in-field and research experience. He is particularly interested in collecting, processing baseline data and writing insightful data-driven mining industry analytics, articles, statistical and research reports.

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