Lithium Corporation of America

Lithium Corporation of America was a United States mining company focused on lithium-bearing mineral resources. Its principal mining activities involved spodumene and pegmatite ores near Bessemer City in Gaston County, North Carolina, and in the Black Hills of South Dakota. These operations placed the company within the early domestic lithium industry, before lithium production became associated primarily with large-scale brine extraction and later with the battery-materials supply chain. The company also obtained lithium concentrate from Quebec Lithium Corporation in Canada. That commercial relationship became the subject of a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by Quebec Lithium Corporation in September 1959. The dispute illustrates that Lithium Corporation of America was not solely dependent on its own U.S. mining properties; procurement agreements with other producers were also part of its supply arrangements. Lithium Corporation of America became notable beyond the mining sector in 1954, when economist Armen Alchian examined an abrupt rise in the company's stock price. He inferred that the increase was connected with classified information about the use of lithium in the fusion fuel of the newly developed American hydrogen bomb. Alchian's analysis is widely regarded as one of the earliest examples of an event study, using market-price movements to draw conclusions about the economic significance of an event that was not yet publicly disclosed. In 1985, FMC Corporation acquired Lithium Corporation of America. FMC, previously known as Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation, subsequently operated the acquired lithium business under the FMC Lithium name. Lithium Corporation of America therefore ceased to exist as an independent company, while its lithium activities continued within FMC. In 2019, FMC completed a spin-off of its lithium operations, creating Livent Corporation. The historical company is consequently best understood as an early U.S. lithium mining business whose assets and operations became part of a corporate lineage leading from Lithium Corporation of America to FMC Lithium and then to Livent.

Lithium Corporation of America was a U.S. mining company whose activities centered on hard-rock lithium resources. It mined lithium-bearing spodumene and pegmatite ores near Bessemer City in Gaston County, North Carolina, and in the Black Hills of South Dakota. These locations formed the physical base of its lithium business and made the company an early participant in the development of domestic lithium production. The company’s historical importance was not limited to its mines. In 1954, economist Armen Alchian studied a sudden increase in Lithium Corporation of America’s stock price. He used the movement as evidence that investors may have received information about the use of lithium in the fusion fuel of the newly developed American hydrogen bomb. Because the underlying information was classified, the stock-price movement provided an indirect signal. Alchian’s work is considered one of the first event studies, a method later used widely in economics and finance to measure how markets respond to significant events. Lithium Corporation of America also maintained a supply relationship with Quebec Lithium Corporation, a Canadian producer of lithium concentrate. In September 1959, Quebec Lithium Corporation sued Lithium Corporation of America for breach of contract. The case indicates that the company’s commercial activity included not only extraction from its own American mineral properties but also the purchase or handling of concentrate from an external producer. By 1985, Lithium Corporation of America had reached sufficient scale to be described as the world’s largest lithium producer. That year FMC Corporation acquired the business. FMC had previously been known as Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation, and after the acquisition its lithium operations were known as FMC Lithium. The acquisition ended Lithium Corporation of America’s independent corporate existence but preserved its operating activities within FMC’s broader portfolio. FMC later separated the lithium business from the rest of the company. In 2019, FMC completed a spin-off of its lithium operations as Livent Corporation. This transaction marked a later stage in the corporate lineage of the historical Lithium Corporation of America business. The company itself is therefore defunct as an independent brand and legal enterprise, while elements of its lithium operations continued under successor corporate identities.

• 2019

  Successor lithium operations spun off as Livent

  [1]Lithium Corporation of Americaen.wikipedia.org

  FMC completed the spin-off of its lithium operations into Livent Corporation, extending the corporate succession of the former Lithium Corporation of America business.

• 1985

  Acquired by FMC Corporation

  [1]Lithium Corporation of Americaen.wikipedia.org

  FMC Corporation acquired Lithium Corporation of America when the latter was described as the world's largest lithium producer.

• 1959

  Breach-of-contract lawsuit by Quebec Lithium Corporation

  [1]Lithium Corporation of Americaen.wikipedia.org

  Quebec Lithium Corporation sued Lithium Corporation of America in September over an alleged breach of contract concerning their lithium-concentrate relationship.

• 1954

  Stock-market event study connected to hydrogen-bomb lithium use

  [1]Lithium Corporation of Americaen.wikipedia.org

  Economist Armen Alchian used a sharp rise in the company’s stock price to infer that lithium was involved in the fusion fuel of the new American hydrogen bomb. The analysis is regarded as one of the earliest event studies.

An early domestic lithium mining company supplying lithium-bearing ores and concentrate from hard-rock resources in the United States.

• Lithium-bearing hard-rock ore

  Spodumene ore

  Lithium Corporation of America mined spodumene-bearing ore near Bessemer City, North Carolina, and in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Spodumene was one of the company’s principal hard-rock lithium resources and formed part of the mineral feedstock for its lithium activities.

• Lithium-bearing hard-rock ore

  Pegmatite ore

  Lithium Corporation of America also mined lithium-bearing pegmatite ores in its U.S. operating areas. These deposits represented another geological source for the company’s lithium production.

• Lithium mineral concentrate

  Lithium concentrate

  The company’s commercial activities included lithium concentrate obtained from Quebec Lithium Corporation in Canada. This externally sourced material was connected to the contractual relationship that later resulted in litigation in 1959.

• 2019

  FMC separated its lithium operations into LiventM&A

  Background

  FMC reorganized its portfolio by separating its lithium operations from the rest of the company.

  Action taken

  FMC completed a spin-off that established Livent Corporation as the successor company for the lithium operations.

  Aftermath

  The transaction continued the corporate lineage of the former Lithium Corporation of America business under a new independent company.

  Source

• 1985

  Accepted acquisition by FMC CorporationM&A

  Background

  Lithium Corporation of America was a major lithium producer, described at the time as the world's largest, and was acquired by FMC Corporation.

  Action taken

  FMC Corporation acquired the company and continued its lithium operations under the FMC Lithium name.

  Aftermath

  Lithium Corporation of America ceased operating as an independent company, while its lithium business continued within FMC and later passed through the 2019 spin-off into Livent Corporation.

  Source

1. 1Lithium Corporation of Americaen.wikipedia.org