Australia’s Core Lithium has announced it has failed to come to an agreement with Tesla for a long-term lithium supply contract.
Back in March Core Lithium announced it had singed a term sheet to supply the automaker with up to 110,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate. The deal was hoped to cover four years, with the lithium coming from their Finnis Lithium Project near Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia.
The prospects of a deal were looking promising a few months later in June when Core Lithium said it was hoping to deliver the first shipment to Tesla by the end of 2022, nearly a full year ahead of the originally proposed schedule.
According to the term sheet the two companies were supposed to sign a final deal by August 27, a date which was later extended to yesterday, October 26.
In a statement announcing the failure to come to a deal, Core Lithium Chief Executive Officer Gareth Manderson hinted the two companies may still work together in the future.
“I want to thank Tesla for the time taken to negotiate with Core and look forward to maintaining an open and ongoing dialogue,” Manderson said. (via Reuters)
Even though Tesla was unable to sign a deal with Core Lithium, they were able to sign one with another Australian company.
In February Liontown Resources signed a 5 year supply deal for 100,000 tonnes over five years, starting in 2024.
A few months earlier in November 2021 Tesla also signed a 3-year lithium hydroxide supply deal with China’s Ganfeng Lithium.
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