Ganfeng and Zijin Mining expect additional lithium production from new projects in Argentina this year

As disclosed recently in its 2023 Annual Report, Ganfeng Lithium said its Argentine Mariana lithium project would produce the first batch of products at the end of this year.

Mariana is a lithium-potassium salt lake located in the Salar de Llullaillaco in Salta Province, and is run by Ganfeng’s 100% owned subsidiary Litio Minera Argentina, carrying an investment of around US$600 million to produce 20,000 tonnes of lithium chloride or around 17,300 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) per year. According to Ganfeng, the total lithium resources (including measured, inferred and indicated) of Mariana lithium project reach around 8.12 million tonnes of LCE.

Further, Ganfeng has planned to have the Mariana project exclusively powered by an off-grid solar farm, with an installed capacity at 120 megawatt (MW) from solar panels and 288 megawatt-peak (MWp) of battery storage, exclusively manufactured by Ganfeng.

Mariana’s feasibility study was completed in 2019, the province of Salta approved the Environmental Impact Study in June 2021. The construction of the project started in June 2022, and the infusion of brine into the salt fields started at the end of 2022. Now Ganfeng is progressing towards finishing the construction of the salt fields, wells, chemical plants, and photovoltaics.

A similar project, Zijin Mining’s Tres Quebradas (3Q) lithium production in Catamarca with 8.54 million tonnes of LCE resources, is targeting the first production in Q3 2024. According to Zijin’s 2023 annual report, the company has finished the Phase 1 construction that enables 20,000 tonnes of LCE production capacity, and has progressed towards Phase 2. Once fully developed, the project has the capacity of producing 40,000 to 60,000 tonnes of LCE per year.

Though considering the scale and the construction timeline, Mariana may not contribute significantly to Ganfeng’s financials in the near term, but the company has another four projects (the PPG project, Cauchari-Olaroz, Incahuasi, and SDLP) in Argentina, totaling the relevant capital expenditures to US$20 billion, which is expected to deliver momentum in the future.

Author: Hongqiu Su | Battery Metals Analyst Associate | London Office, Shanghai Metals Market
Email: lilysu@smm.cn