Rio Tinto, a multinational mining company, has announced that it now owns a 53.9% stake in a Canadian mining company, Nemaska Lithium.
In 2025, Rio Tinto acquired a 50% stake in Nemaska Lithium through the acquisition of Arcadium, a lithium chemicals producer. The acquisition also comprises the lithium hydroxide plant in Bécancour and the Whabouchi spodumene mine in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Québec.
The company has now acquired an additional 3.9% stake, following the respective equity investments made by Rio Tinto and the Government of Québec, which now holds 46.1% through Investissement Québec.
Nemaska Lithium is a fully integrated spodumene-to-lithium hydroxide development project in Québec, strategically located to serve the growing lithium demand in North America and Europe.
As the majority shareholder, Rio Tinto now assumes direct management of Nemaska Lithium and will leverage its processes, standards, and expertise, particularly in development, operations, sales, and marketing, to build an integrated lithium business in Québec.
Rio Tinto Aluminium & Lithium Chief Executive Jérôme Pécresse said: “Rio Tinto’s activities in Québec play an important role in our ambition to take our world-class lithium business to the next level of growth and performance, notably through Nemaska Lithium. This evolution will facilitate the achievement of this objective and enable us to better support the long-term development of Nemaska Lithium, which will expand our integrated lithium product offering.”
The Government of Quebec will invest up to $200 million in Nemaska Lithium through equity subscriptions, with Rio Tinto investing more than $300 million in 2026 to continue developing its lithium business in Québec.
According to Mercom’s Annual and Q4 2025 Funding and M&A for Energy Storage report, the corporate M&A activity decreased, with 22 companies acquired in 2025 compared to 25 in 2024.
In September, I Squared Capital, an infrastructure investment manager, announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority equity interest in ENTEK Technology Holdings, a manufacturer of battery separators.
