• Liontown Resources Ltd signed a lithium supply agreement with Ford Motor.
• The Australian miner’s latest after similar deals earlier this year with Tesla and electric vehicle battery maker LG Energy.

Liontown Resources Ltd (LTR.AX) consented to a lithium supply arrangement with Ford Motor Co (F.N), the Australian digger’s most recent after comparable arrangements recently with Tesla (TSLA.O) and electric vehicle (EV) battery creator LG Energy (373220. KS).

Liontown said on Wednesday it will supply Ford with 150,000 dry metric tons (DMT) of lithium spodumene concentrate every year for quite some time from its leader Kathleen Valley project in Western Australia. The concentrate is a wellspring of lithium fundamental for making EVs.

Shares in Liontown, a little digger led by Australian business person Tim Goyder, flooded 17% in daytime exchanging, yet pared gains to exchange up 5.6% by early afternoon (0200 GMT), giving it a market capitalization of about A$2.5 billion.

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A worldwide push toward decarbonization and accomplishing net zero fossil fuel byproducts has reinforced the interest in EVs, moving the costs of battery metals like lithium to record levels.

Passage, which is wagering forcefully on EVs, said in March it would support spending on EVs by 66% to $50 billion through 2026 and run its EV unit independently from its heritage ignition motor business, a move pointed toward contending better against Tesla.

The U.S. vehicle producer has a joint endeavor with EV battery creator SK On, a unit of South Korea’s SK Innovation (096770. KS). The endeavor, called BlueOvalSK, is scheduled to have a yearly battery creation limit of 129 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in the United States.

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Liontown said it has likewise gotten an obligation office of A$300 million ($207.21 million) from a Ford unit to additionally foster the Kathleen Valley project.

The Australian excavator is supposed to begin providing spodumene in 2024, beginning with 75,000 DMT in the primary year of the arrangement, and ascending to 150,000 DMT in the third year.