EcoPro gives Pursuit’s Rio Grande Sur lithium plan a strategic lift

EcoPro proposes US$40 million Rio Grande Sur package

Pursuit Minerals Ltd (ASX:PUR) has secured a potentially important strategic partner for its Rio Grande Sur lithium project in Argentina, with South Korean battery-materials group EcoPro Innovation proposing a US$40 million project-level package. The proposal combines a US$20 million equity investment, up to US$20 million in advance funding and an agreement framework covering all of Rio Grande Sur’s initial lithium production.

Under the proposed structure, EcoPro would acquire a 20% interest in Pursuit’s Argentine project subsidiary, leaving Pursuit with 80% ownership and operational control. The separate advance funding would be drawn progressively against agreed development milestones and repaid through future lithium product deliveries.

Initial production would have a proposed buyer

EcoPro would negotiate offtake for 100% of Stage 1 production, representing approximately 5,000 tonnes per annum of lithium carbonate equivalent, with Pursuit retaining an option to vary volumes by 10%. Pricing would reference the Fastmarkets Lithium Carbonate Benchmark on a CIF Asia basis.

The proposed partnership arrives shortly after Pursuit’s Rio Grande Sur reserve expansion, which outlined a staged path from 5,000 tonnes per year to 17,500 tonnes per year. EcoPro would also receive a 60-day exclusive negotiation right over offtake from future expansions, although the current arrangement is initially focused on Stage 1.

Third-party debt remains the larger funding test

The MOU does not solve Rio Grande Sur’s entire capital requirement. Pursuit is still required to procure up to US$120 million in senior secured project debt from third-party lenders, while the project’s 5,000-tonne-per-year pre-feasibility study estimated total funding needs of US$156.63 million. That estimate includes US$130.12 million in construction costs, US$12.41 million in contingency, US$13.03 million in interest during construction and US$1.07 million in financing costs.

Pursuit says those figures remain subject to confirmation through detailed engineering, and any debt financing will depend on lender approvals and final financing arrangements. The proposed EcoPro funding may strengthen the project’s financing framework, but it is not itself a binding commitment to invest, advance money, purchase lithium or provide debt.

Due diligence and product qualification come next

The parties must complete technical, financial, legal, environmental and commercial due diligence before binding agreements can be signed. That work includes pilot-scale validation, flowsheet confirmation, lithium product qualification, updated capital and operating cost estimates, construction scheduling, permitting and approvals.

Rio Grande Sur has a JORC-compliant mineral resource of approximately 1.264 million tonnes LCE at an average lithium concentration of 424 milligrams per litre, including 705,000 tonnes in the Indicated category and 559,000 tonnes Inferred. Pursuit’s latest development framework also cites an expanded Probable Ore Reserve of approximately 438,000 tonnes LCE supporting the potential move beyond Stage 1.

Non-binding terms leave completion risk intact

The MOU sets 31 December 2027 as the deadline for satisfying or waiving conditions unless both parties agree to extend it. Its terms may be amended, restructured or abandoned as negotiations progress, and the transaction may not proceed on the terms currently outlined, or at all.

Pursuit’s immediate work is therefore less about celebrating a completed financing than converting a promising framework into binding equity and offtake agreements, confirmed debt arrangements and a technically validated project capable of reaching construction. The key question is whether EcoPro’s involvement can help unlock those remaining steps without Rio Grande Sur’s capital requirements rising during detailed engineering.