(Reuters) - Australia's Mineral Resources <MIN.AX> on Friday signed a binding deal to sell a stake in its Wodgina Lithium Project and form a lithium joint venture with U.S.-based Albemarle Corp <ALB.N> for $1.15 billion.
The deal allows Albemarle Corp, the world's top lithium producer, to expand its presence in Australia at a time when demand for lithium is expected to boom.
Albemarle will take a 50 percent stake in the joint venture that will own and operate the Wodgina mine and develop a plant producing lithium hydroxide.
(Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan in Bengaluru; editing by Darren Schuettler)
