Rio Tinto cuts dozens of jobs at Quebec processing plant amid drop in lithium demand

Résumé détaillé

Anglo-Australian mining giant took control of Nemaska Lithium earlier this year as it moved to expand its critical-mineral holdings

Rio Tinto Group is laying off dozens of workers at its Nemaska Lithium Inc. unit in Quebec as the Anglo-Australian mining giant scrambles to find a profitable path forward for the business in the face of market instability.

The company informed workers at Nemaska that it will cut jobs at its lithium processing plant in Bécancour, Que., Rio Tinto spokeswoman Vanessa Damha said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday. The facility is being built but the pace of construction was pared back this past spring.

“With less work expected next year and construction activity expected to remain limited, Nemaska Lithium cannot maintain its current workforce,” Ms. Damha said. Affected employees will receive support and a smaller team will remain to manage the site safely and protect the work completed, she said.

The company did not specify the number of employees being let go. Slightly more than half of the 120 employees at the plant will lose their jobs, according to information obtained by The Globe and Mail. The Journal de Montréal first reported the layoffs.

Nemaska Lithium launched in 2007 with plans to develop a mine called Whabouchi to source spodumene, a lithium-bearing hard rock, and start a lithium processing operation. The company later hit major cost overruns, filed for creditor protection and restructured under new ownership. The Quebec government has sunk roughly $1.2-billion into Nemaska since 2018.

Rio Tinto took majority control of Nemaska earlier this year as the mining multinational presses ahead with an expansion of its critical-mineral holdings. It owns a roughly 54-per-cent stake while the balance is held by the province.

Executives with Rio Tinto have been bullish on lithium as a material for stationary energy-storage units and electric vehicles, but they’re pulling back on the speed of development amid uncertain market conditions. Last year, the company mothballed a US$2.3-billion lithium project in Serbia known as Jadar.

Lithium carbonate prices have fallen about 85…

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