Breaking! Yahua Group Terminates Lithium Project Investment!

SHANGHAI, Oct 13 (SMM) - On the evening of October 12, Yahua Group announced that it had signed the Termination Agreement of the Share Subscription Agreement with Ultra Lithium Inc. on October 11, 2022, and will also sign an agreement to withdraw in the future concerning the project company.

In the termination announcement, Yahua Group stated that the termination of the investment is mainly based on the judgement of current international environmental, which is expected to have a greater impact on the mine development cycle. Therefore, the Company plans to terminate the investment in the Ultra Lithium Inc. project in Canada. In addition, the concerning lithium ore project has not yet entered the physical mining stage without substantial income. At the same time, the lithium resources that Yahua Group have obtained so far can fully meet the needs of its lithium salt production, and it is also trying to achieve a multi-channel and all-round upstream lithium resource layout in the future to guarantee its subsequent production.

Yahua Group announced earlier in April this year that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Yahua International, signed an Equity Subscription Agreement with Ultra Lithium Inc., and planned to invest 5 million Canadian dollars to subscribe for 13.23% of the latter's equity. Meanwhile, Yahua International will invest in cash to acquire 60% of the equity of the wholly-owned subsidiary of Ultra Lithium, so as to acquire the controlling right of Forgan Lake hard rock spodumene concentrate project and Georgia Lake hard rock spodumene project. 

The Forgan Lake hard rock spodumene project and the Georgia Lake hard rock spodumene project are located in Ontario, Canada, with a total mining area of 26.72 square kilometres. The mining area is well supported by established infrastructure, convenient transportation, and other basic infrastructure such as hydropower. Aand the nearby highway can directly lead to the port with a distance of about 145 kilometres.

1. According to the surface outcrop area, the estimated resources of the Forgan Lake project amount to 6.4 million mt with an average lithium oxide grade of 2.2%, equivalent to about 140,000 mt of lithium oxide after inital estimate;

2. The estimated resources of the Georgia Lake project mine based on the surface outcrop area are 5.4 million mt, with an average lithium oxide grade of 1.2%, equivalent to about 65,000 mt of lithium oxide.

Source: Ultra Lithium website

According to the preliminary research results, the first phase will be equipped with a 200,000-mt/year spodumene concentrate dressing plant with 6% lithium oxide, and the continuous operation time is not less than 10 years. In the later stage, the production capacity will expand to 400,000 mt subject to the follow-up exploration.

Since the beginning of the current upward cycle of lithium prices, the battle for lithium resources has been increasingly heated. As one of the leading lithium smelting enterprises in China, Yahua Group has also made continuous efforts in resource acquiring since 2021. After the termination of this project, Yahua Group still has ten resource projects through underwriting or equity acquisition.