FACTBOX-Arcadium deal to vault Rio Tinto into lithium supplier big league

Updates with Rio Tinto's deal for Arcadium Lithium

Oct 8 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto RIO.AX, RIO.L said on Wednesday it would acquire Arcadium Lithium ALTM.N for $6.7 billion in an all-cash deal that would make it one of the world's largest lithium producers.

The global miner would gain access to Arcadium's wide range of mines, processing facilities and deposits along with a customer base that includes automakers Tesla TSLA.O, BMW BMWG.DE and General Motors GM.N.

Rio's Rincon project in Argentina is due to start producing later this year, while its Jadar project in Serbia could take at least two years to secure all the necessary permits.

Below is a list of the top lithium producers in the world as per market cap:

1. Albermale

Albemarle ALB.N is the world's largest lithium producer, with a market cap of about $12 billion. It runs the only producing lithium mine in North America, and also has operations in Chile and Western Australia.

It holds joint ventures in Australia with Mineral Resources MIN.AX at the Wodgina mine and with Tianqi Lithium 002466.SZ at the Greenbushes mine.

In 2023, it produced 39,000 tons of lithium metal.

2. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

Chile's SQM SQMA.SN is the second-largest lithium producer, with a market cap of $11.43 billion. China's Tianqi Lithium 002466.SZ owns about a fifth of the company.

SQM last year produced around 165,500 tons of lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate, according to its annual report.

3. Ganfeng Lithium

China's Ganfeng Lithium 002460.SZ has a market cap of $9.37 billion. It also owns a 6.16% stake in Australia's Pilbara Minerals PLS.AX. It has operations in Western Australia, Argentina, Mexico and China.

4. Tianqi Lithium

Tianqi Lithium 002466.SZ, which has a market cap of $8.11 billion, has operations in Australia, Chile and China.

5. Mineral Resources

Australia's Mineral Resources MIN.AX has a market cap of $7.12 billion and is the world's biggest miner of hardrock spodumene. It holds stakes in several developers such as Global Lithium GL1.AX, Delta Lithium DLI.AX and Wildcat Resources WC8.AX.

Per last year's annual report, the company shipped 847,000 dry metric tons (dmt) of spodumene concentrate.

6. Pilbara Minerals

Pilbara Minerals PLS.AX has a market cap of $6.34 billion and operates the Pilgangoora mine in Western Australia. In August, it made a A$559.9 million ($378.21 million) bid for smaller peer Latin Resources LRS.AX to gain access to its Brazilian operations.

In 2023, it produced 620,147 dmt of total spodumene concentrate.

7. Arcadium Lithium

Arcadium Lithium ALTM.N has a market cap of $3.31 billion and was formed by the merger of Allkem and Livent on Jan. 4, 2024. It has mining assets in Argentina and Australia, and downstream conversion assets in the U.S., China, Japan and UK.

As of 2023, both the companies together produced around 29,661 tons of lithium carbonate, and Allkem alone produced 239,312 dmt of spodumene concentrate.

8. Liontown Resources

Liontown Resources LTR.AX has a market cap of $1.45 billion, and operates in Western Australia.

In September, it shipped its first lithium output of 11,855 wet metric tons of spodumene concentrate.

($1 = 1.4804 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Seher Dareen and Tanay Dhumal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

((Tanay.Dhumal@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/TanayDhumal;))