The Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) share price is falling on Thursday.
In morning trade, the mining and mining services company's shares are down 3.5% to $61.20.
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What's going on with the Mineral Resources share price?
Investors have been hitting the sell button today despite the company announcing the successful restructuring of its MARBL joint venture with Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB).
According to the release, as per previous announcements, this restructure will mean that Mineral Resources' share of the Wodgina lithium mine will increase from 40% to 50%. Mineral Resources will also remain the operator of the mine.
In exchange, following the granting of approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board, Albemarle will now take full ownership of the Kemerton Lithium Hydroxide Plant.
Albemarle will also pay Mineral Resources an estimated US$380 million to US$400 million for the net consideration for Mineral Resources' share of Kemerton and completion adjustments at Wodgina and Kemerton. Management expects the full payment to be received by December.
Why are its shares falling?
The weakness in the Mineral Resources share price today appears to have been driven by broad selling in the lithium industry.
This follows a very poor night on Wall Street, which saw the likes of Albemarle and SQM fall heavily.
The catalyst for this was a particularly bearish broker note out of Bank of America, which suggests that the lithium market could be oversupplied in 2024 and 2025. This would have obvious consequences for lithium prices and overall profitability in the industry.
Should you buy the dip?
Morgans is likely to see this as a buying opportunity. Last week, its analysts put an add rating and $83 price target on its shares.
This implies a potential upside of over 35% for the Mineral Resources share price from current levels.
