-- Billionaire Paolo Rocca’s steel and energy group will enter the lithium business one way or another — saying it’s lining up other options in case it fails with a $1 billion plan to develop a project in Argentina.Tecpetrol Investments SL is giving shareholders in Alpha Lithium Corp. until Oct. 20 to accept a “best and final offer” that’s worth $210 million to $230 million, said Vice President of Energy Transition Jorge Dimopulos.
Tecpetrol is joining other Argentine oil drillers Pluspetrol SA, Pan American Energy Group and YPF SA developing projects for the battery metal in South America’s lithium triangle, which is more than 1,000 miles north of the shale fields of Vaca Muerta.
The company is moving forward with its lithium plans ahead of a pivotal presidential election — in fact, its Alpha bid expires is just two days before the first-round vote. Opposition candidates Javier Milei and Patricia Bullrich, both of whom gained momentum in a primary vote in August, promise to deregulate the heavily-controlled economy.
-- Gold fell as investors considered whether tightening financial conditions may have reached a peak following dovish commentary from Federal Reserve officials, despite the conflict in the Middle East continuing to roil markets.