Toronto-listed Avalon Advanced Materials will supply LG Energy Solution with 11,000 tonnes a year of lithium hydroxide for five years initially, starting in 2025.
Avalon will supply LG at least 50% of its planned lithium hydroxide production from its Thunder Bay facility in Ontario.
Nasdaq-listed Snow Lake Lithium will supply 20,000 tonnes a year of lithium hydroxide for ten years once the production starts in 2025.
Snow Lake and LG would advance one of Canada's first lithium hydroxide processing plants in CentrePort, Winnipeg, Snow Lake said. Snow Lake's lithium mine in Lake Manitoba will power 5 million electric vehicles over the next ten years based on production of 160,000 tonnes of 6% lithium spodumene a year, the firm said.
The US government's recently-passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which underscores the importance of EV battery components manufactured or assembled in North America, has further stressed the significance of battery manufacturers' establishing local supply chain within North America, LG Solution said.
"As we have recently announced our mid- to long-term strategy to focus on North America, the fastest growing EV market, these partnerships serve as a crucial step towards securing a stable key raw material supply chain in the region," said Youngsoo Kwon, chief executive of South Korean-based LG Energy Solution.
LG Energy Solution has previously signed a non-binding term sheet with Canada's Sigma Lithium for the supply of battery-grade lithium.
It also has two off-take agreements with Australia's Liontown Resources Limited for spodumene concentrate and Germany's Vulcan Energy Resources for battery-grade lithium chemicals.
LG Energy Solutions is a major supplier of electric vehicle batteries to vehicle manufacturer Tesla.
