General Motors Inks Battery Mineral Supply Agreement With Australia's Element 25

Australian resource company Element 25 has entered into a supply agreement with General Motors Co GM.

The move comes as General Motors seeks to secure critical battery minerals supply for its electric vehicles in North America, reported Reuters.

In October last year, GM made a $69 million strategic investment in Queensland Pacific Metals of Australia to secure a new source of nickel and cobalt for Ultium battery cells.

Under the new agreement, GM will get up to 32,500 tons of manganese sulphate each year from Element 25 over a seven-year period from a facility in Louisiana.

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Also, GM will loan Element 25 $85 million to aid in the construction of the facility, which is expected to open in 2025.

The deals with GM and carmaker Stellantis in January, Element 25 has garnered customers for 65% of its $290 million battery grade manganese sulphate plant in Louisiana.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

GM expects to produce 400,000 electric vehicles in North America from 2022 through mid-2024.

Price Action: GM shares closed lower by 1.31% at $36.18 on Friday.

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