Rio Tinto Invests in InoBat to Support Battery Ecosystem in Europe

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UK-headquartered mining firm Rio Tinto is investing in Inobat Auto, a battery technology and manufacturing company, to support the development of a battery ecosystem in Europe.

This investment will support the completion of InoBat’s research and development centre and pilot battery line in Voderady, Slovakia. It follows a Memorandum of Understanding signed in May, outlining an intention to work together to progress the establishment of a “cradle-to-cradle” electric vehicle battery value chain in Serbia.

InoBat, which has a battery research and development facility and pilot plant under development in Slovakia, is pursuing plans to build a number of giga factories, including one in Serbia.

Rio Tinto’s $2.4 billion Jadar lithium-borates project in Serbia is one of the largest greenfield lithium projects in development. It has the potential to produce approximately 58 thousand tonnes of battery grade lithium carbonate and position Rio Tinto as the largest source of lithium supply in Europe for at least the next 15 years, claims the company.

Managing director of Rio Tinto’s battery materials business, Marnie Finlayson said ”We are delighted to be able to deepen our partnership with InoBat through our investment and look forward to benefitting from a broader perspective of the battery materials sector, as well as insights into future battery chemistries and technologies.”

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“We believe Jadar will be a critical supplier of the European battery ecosystem and, through our investment in InoBat, we hope that we can assist in making some of those batteries locally,” Finlayson added.

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Marian Bocek, Chief executive officer of InoBat Auto said “InoBat is thrilled to further partner with Rio Tinto. Our mission has always been to provide solutions across the entire value chain – a cradle-to-cradle approach, which showcases the concept of the circular economy and will support Europe’s bid for technological independence. Side-by-side with Rio Tinto, we are looking forward to further developing our manufacturing capacities and working closely on the downstream development of a battery ecosystem with common decarbonisation efforts at its core.”