The IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO) share price spent all day firmly in the green today. At the close of trade, shares in the mineral exploration company were swapping hands for $7.13, up 2.5%.
Today's positive price movement comes amid news the company has successfully divested its minority stake in a gold mining project.
Let's take a closer look at today's news and what it means for the IGO share price.
IGO offloads Tropicana investment
In a statement to the ASX, IGO advised it has sold its 30% stake in the Tropicana Gold Mine to Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL). The sale was pending confirmation from Tropicana majority owner, AngloGold Ashanti (ASX: AGG). This approval was received yesterday.
The divestment of Tropicana marks "an important strategic milestone" for IGO.
The company said the transaction maximised the value of Tropicana for IGO's shareholders and allowed it to focus on commodities critical to enabling clean energy. Investors seemingly agree, judging by today's IGO share price rise.
Proceeds from the sale will be used to fund the purchase of the Tianqi Lithium Corporation's Australian lithium assets.
Lithium demand continues
It's no secret that Lithium shares have been soaring in recent months. Strong demand for the element is linked to rising demand for electric vehicles – which use lithium in their batteries.
The website Trading Economics puts the price of lithium on the open market at approximately US $14,000 a tonne. It's up an astonishing 93.6% since the beginning of the year. Other metals surging on the green energy boom include cobalt, copper, nickel, palladium, platinum, and rhodium.
In other news affecting the IGO share price recently, Antipa Minerals Ltd (ASX: AZY) announced the Burracoppin Project (which it has a 30% interest in) has "encouraging" essay results.
The best results, according to Antipa, include a 1-metre-wide ore with 7.48g of gold per tonne and an 8-metre-wide ore with 0.47g of gold per tonne.
IGO share price snapshot
Over the past year, the IGO share price has increased 55.57% and posted a 65.17% rise in 2021.
IGO Ltd has a market capitalisation of $5.4 billion.
