Diversified global miner Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) has made the next significant step into battery metals, committing $900 million for a 49.99% stake in Chile's Salar de Maricunga, a world-class lithium project controlled by the Chilean state-owned miner Codelco.

Chile's Codelco will partner with global mining giant Rio Tinto for its new Maricunga lithium project, the state miner said on Monday, bringing a major new player into the sector in the world's second-largest producer of the EV battery metal.

Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) said Monday it signed binding agreements with Chile's state-run miner Codelco to form a joint venture to develop and operate a high-grade lithium project in the Salar de Maricunga resource base.