NYSE- and ASX-listed Arcadium Lithium has announced the acquisition of the lithium metal business of Li-Metal for $11-million in cash.

The acquisition includes the intellectual property and physical assets related to lithium metal production, including a pilot production facility in Ontario, Canada.

Key personnel from Li-Metal's lithium metal business will be joining Arcadium as part of the acquisition. Maciej Jastrzebski, Li-Metal's co-founder and chief technology officer, has entered into a consulting agreement with Arcadium to facilitate the transfer of technology and integrate the team.

Arcadium says the the acquisition is expected to strengthen its position as a global producer of lithium metal by providing safer, lower cost and more sustainable processes for lithium metal production using various grades of lithium carbonate feedstock, which the company produces in Argentina.

These new capabilities will complement the company's existing process technologies for producing lithium metal at its Bessemer City site in North Carolina, US, using concentrated lithium chloride from its Guemes facility in Salta, Argentina.

'We are excited to welcome the team to Arcadium Lithium as we look to lead the way in developing cutting-edge lithium carbonate to lithium metal production technology. This small but important acquisition gives us a platform to advance new and better process pathways for manufacturing lithium metal,” said Arcadium president and CEO Paul Graves.

“The ability to produce lithium metal from lithium carbonate will give us additional flexibility to utilise our vertically integrated network of assets while reducing the need for third-party lithium metal. This will further enhance the competitiveness of our butyllithium and lithium specialty chemicals business and help us create the scale needed to meet the growing demand for next-generation battery materials developed from lithium metal.”

Arcadium Lithium uses lithium metal to manufacture lithium specialty products, including high-purity lithium metal and LIOVIX - a proprietary printable lithium metal formulation, for primary battery applications and next-generation batteries.

Arcadium also processes lithium metal into butyllithium, used in the manufacture of lightweight 'green' tyres among other applications, as well as lithium specialty chemicals used in medicine, agriculture, electronics and other industries.