** Canadian miner's shares AVL.TO up 13.3% at C$0.17
** Company announces partnership to build Ontario's first
regional lithium battery materials refinery in Thunder Bay
** AVL signs letter of intent with RenJoules International
Ltd, unit of India's Essar Group urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nPn3dRnqCa
** Avalon says agreement involves providing initial
financial and development support for building a lithium
refinery in Thunder Bay that will be designed to accept lithium
minerals concentrates
** Company says the refinery will operate as a separate
private business, called Avalon Lithium Inc, a newly established
Avalon unit in which Essar will become a co-owner
** Avalon says construction is planned to begin this year
and refinery could be in operation by 2025
** AVL shares up 54.5% so far this year
(Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru)
((Arunima.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aru_Kumar94))