New Energy News Roundup

SHANGHAI, Sep 14 (SMM) - A weekly update on the trending stories from the New Energy sector.

1. Australian firm Eastern Iron and Ya Hua International Investment and Development, a subsidiary of Sichuan Yahua Industrial Group, have agreed to form a strategic partnership to acquire and develop lithium projects, including the Trigg Hill Lithium Tantalum Project in Australia, by establishing joint ventures (JVs). Yahua will be granted the right of first refusal to lithium ore of their JV projects.  The Trigg Hill project is located in Pilbara, Western Australia, where the Port Hedland is located. It is an old tantalum tin mine that began operations in the 1960s and early 1980s, containing spodumene and lepidolite resources. Sampling from Lithium Australia in 2018 confirmed the presence of up to 2.9% Li2O lepidolite in the pegmatite samples of the project.

Yahua Group indirectly owns spodumene mining rights in Lijiagou mine as it holds 27.94% stake in the mine following acquisition of 37.25% stake in State Lithium.  In 2017, Yahua Group subscribed for the equity of Core Lithium and signed an offtake agreement for the Finniss project of Core Lithium. The Finniss project, together with Lijiagou mine, will ensure raw material supply for future expansion of Yahua’s lithium salt capacity. As neither Lijiagou mine nor the Finniss project has been put into production, Yahua Group has also signed a long-term agreement with Galaxy Resources in order to meet its current raw material demand. Offtake agreement for the Trigg Hill project will also provide raw materials for Yahua’s future expansions.

2. It was reported that SK Innovation (SKI) will supply nickel-cobalt-manganese batteries with a nickel content of 80% to Xiaopeng Motors. The two companies signed a battery supply agreement in July this year. SKI plans to provide Xiaopeng Motors with batteries produced at its Huizhou plant in Guangdong and has already started mass production.

Prior to cooperation with SKI, Xiaopeng Motors has been using batteries supplied by CATL. Cooperation with SKI will enhance Xiaopeng's diversification of battery sources and help it improve the stability of battery supply. This will also expand SKI’s share in the Chinese market.

3. According to the Sina micro-blog account officially run by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on September 7, the CSRC has approved the registration of the IPO of Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd. on the Science and Technology Innovation Board in accordance with legal procedures, which means that the leading consumer lithium battery firm has officially obtained approval for IPO.

Zhuhai CosMX Battery is mainly engaged in the research and development, production and sales of consumer polymer pouch lithium batteries that are widely used in notebook computers, smart wearables, and drones. Besides, its business also involves motive power lithium batteries. According to the prospectus, Zhuhai CosMX Battery plans to raise 3.249 billion yuan of funds by publicly issuing 156 million shares. The capital raised will be used for the construction of the polymer lithium battery production base in Zhuhai, lithium battery cell packaging production line in Chongqing, upgrade at R&D centre and supplementary working capital.