Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) shares are trading slightly lower on Tuesday, down 0.06% to $119.24 apiece at the time of writing.
The ASX 200 iron ore giant appears to be the latest miner seeking to expand into the lithium sector.
Large established mining companies all over the world who are not already engaged in lithium mining are looking to buy out lithium explorers or at least take a stake in them.
Examples include the recently improved takeover offer from Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) for Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR).
There's also the pending merger of Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) and Livent Corp (NYSE: LTHM).
Fellow ASX 200 mining giant Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN), which already has a big lithium operation of its own, recently took an almost 20% stake in ASX lithium junior Delta Lithium Ltd (ASX: DLI).
Australia's richest person and mining doyen, Gina Rhinehart, is also investing heavily in ASX lithium shares.
The executive chair of private mining company Hancock Prospecting recently upped her stake in Liontown to 7.72%. She also has a stake in Delta Lithium.
But Rio Tinto is looking to do something different.
How is Rio Tinto buying into lithium?
According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), Rio Tinto has been buying up exploration tenements encompassing more than 145,000 hectares in Western Australia.
Back in May, Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm said the mergers and acquisitions pathway to lithium exposure was unappealing due to the high valuations of ASX lithium shares at the time.
So, Rio Tinto looks to be going another way by purchasing land and mining tenements directly.
Rio Tinto has claims on more than 61,000 hectares close to Liontown's Kathleen Valley lithium project.
It's also shoring up almost 46,000 hectares to the north and south-east of Delta's Mt Ida project.
Rio Tinto also has an existing partnership with ASX mineral explorer Everest Metals Corporation Ltd (ASX: EMC) in Western Australia's Sandstone region.
According to the article, Rio Tinto lodged several tenement applications relating to Sandstone in August 2022. It has made further applications in 2023.
How are Rio Tinto shares performing in 2023?
Rio Tinto shares are up 3.4% in the year to date and up 29.2% over the past 12 months.
