Rio Tinto on Wednesday struck a deal to acquire Arcadium Lithium for $6.7 billion, as the global miner extends its operations in another commodity needed for the energy transaction.

Rio Tinto said it has agreed to a $6.7 billion takeover of Arcadium Lithium, propelling it into the ranks of the top producers of a key commodity used in batteries for electric vehicles.

Arcadium Lithium has a market cap of $3.31 billion and was formed by the merger of Allkem and Livent on Jan. 4, 2024. It has mining assets in Argentina and Australia, and downstream conversion assets in the U.S., China, Japan and UK.