(Reuters) – Australian lithium miner Liontown Resources Ltd announced Wednesday that it had signed a deal for lithium spodumene to be sold from its flagship project, to South Korea’s battery unit at LG Chem. This sent its shares soaring by 13%.

LG Energy Solution, which counts Tesla (NASDAQ:) Inc and General Motors Co (NYSE:) as its customers, will buy 100,000 dry metric tonnes (DMT) of lithium spodumene — a key raw material for making electric vehicle batteries — from Liontown’s Kathleen Valley project.

Liontown will join other lithium-producing companies like Vulcan Energy in striking major deals with EV producers as the sector becomes the centre of attention amid a push from governments and corporations towards a more sustainable future.

The company also said the deal — a first for its Western Australia-based project — will account for nearly 30% of its annual output after year one of production and is expected to be operating from 2024.

Liontown said that it has received strong interest from many parties to long-term offtake from Kathleen Valley Lithium Project, without providing details.

The shares of the company saw their highest jump in October 2021, on Wednesday. Its share prices have been increasing by almost 5-fold over the last year.