South Korea’s trading company STX Corp. signed a tripartite agreement with local partners in Peru and Brazil to develop lithium mines and trade spodumene concentrates, the company said on Monday.

In line with the confidentiality terms of the contract, the names of the local operating partners remain undisclosed. 

STX has committed to an investment in a Peruvian mine believed to hold about 20 million tons of lithium reserves and has acquired transportation and sales rights for a substantial volume of lithium concentrate—exceeding 300,000 tons annually—from a Brazilian operation.

The company is currently pursuing a contract to supply this Brazilian lithium spodumene to domestic secondary battery companies and plans to conduct primary processing either domestically or in a third country following composition testing of the spodumene samples.

STX has also negotiated with domestic secondary battery manufacturers to establish a plant for the refining and processing of lithium, with the goal of securing competitive supply chain management that spans mining, refining, processing, transportation, and sales of spodumene.

“We expect to contribute to the resolution of raw material supply uncertainties for major domestic and international secondary battery companies,” an STX source said.