Rio Tinto has signed binding agreements with Chilean state-owned copper mining company Codelco to establish a joint venture (JV) to develop the Salar de Maricunga lithium project in Chile by investing up to $900m (£672.

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 and Corporación Nacional Del Cobre de Chile ("Codelco") have signed binding agreements to form a joint venture to develop and operate a high-grade lithium project in the Salar de Maricunga in Chile.