Italian energy major acquires 25% stake in Chilean lithium project

Eni has signed an agreement to acquire a 25% stake in Black Giant SpA, a Chilean subsidiary of EnergyX developing a lithium project near the Salar de Punta Negra in northern Chile. Eni’s total phased investment amounts to $225 million.

Black Giant SpA is a wholly owned subsidiary of EnergyX, a US-based startup in which Eni holds a minority stake through its corporate venture arm, Eni Next. EnergyX is developing direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology, which the company says enables a closed-loop system with full brine reinjection, reducing the water use associated with conventional evaporation-pond lithium production.

The project targets full-capacity production of 52.5 kton per year of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) across two phases. The first phase includes Train 1, with 7.5 kton per year of capacity and startup expected in 2028. The second phase adds further trains for an additional 45 kton per year, with startup expected in 2030.

Eni will also gain a board seat at Black Giant and the option to offtake up to 25% of total LCE production. Eni said that offtake would support its Gigafactory initiative to produce stationary lithium batteries in Brindisi, Italy.

In September 2025, Eni and Seri Industrial said that Eni Storage Systems had begun work on a Brindisi manufacturing hub targeting more than 8 GWh per year of lithium iron phosphate battery production.

Eni said the deal supports its strategy to diversify supply chains and expand into the critical minerals value chain.