Gina Rinehart launches joint bid for lithium miner amid demand for electric vehicles

The $1.7bn offer for Azure Minerals comes during a rush of dealmaking for the metal used in batteries

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Gina Rinehart has teamed up with a Chilean miner to take control of a prized lithium asset in the mineral-rich Pilbara, creating a path for Australia’s richest person to become a major producer of the key metal used in electric vehicle batteries.

Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting and Sociedad Quimica y Minera (SQM) lodged a $1.7bn bid for Azure Minerals, according to a stock exchange announcement on Tuesday.

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