Gov't, POSCO to invest 30 bln won in lithium-extracting plant

SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Yonhap) -- The government signed a deal Tuesday with leading South
Korean steelmaker POSCO to cooperate in extracting lithium from seawater, in a
bid to secure a stable source of the material used in batteries for electric
cars, mobile phones and other personal devices, government officials said.

Under the deal, the government and POSCO are to invest a combined 30 billion won
(US$26 million) in building a lithium-extracting plant with the aim of completing
the commercialization of the material obtained from seawater by 2014, according
to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.
They also hope to produce around 20,000-100,000 tons of lithium annually from
2015. The ministry said, however, that it has yet to decide where to locate the
plant.
The deal comes as the amount of lithium that can be obtained on land is quickly
being depleted. The ministry said that it had sought to extract lithium from
seawater over the past years and succeeded in securing related core technologies
in May.
In 2008, South Korea imported around 11,000 tons of lithium batteries and other
related products worth about 660 billion won to meet local demand, according to
the ministry.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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