China Mineral Resources plans to invest 1 billion yuan to build a project with an annual output of 35000 tons of high purity lithium salt.

On the evening of February 25th, China Mineral Resources (002738) issued an announcement that in order to give full play to the technical advantages of the company's lithium resources reserves and lithium salt smelting and processing, and to strengthen the company's competitiveness in the field of new energy and new materials, the company, through its wholly-owned company Chunpeng Lithium Industry, has invested in the construction of an annual high-purity lithium salt project with an annual output of 35000 tons in Xinyu City, Jiangxi Province, with a total investment of about 1 billion yuan.

The announcement shows that Chunpeng Lithium Industry produces 35000 tons of high-purity lithium salt annually. The main products of the project are battery-grade lithium carbonate and battery-grade lithium hydroxide, while the by-products are anhydrous sodium sulfate. The project construction period is about 12 months. Chunpeng Lithium Industry first invested in the project with its own funds, and the deficiency was solved by raising its own funds.

At present, the power battery of new energy vehicle is experiencing a period of rapid development. The market demand of high-end lithium salt products represented by battery-grade lithium carbonate and battery-grade lithium hydroxide is growing steadily, and the industry has broad prospects for development. According to China International Capital Corporation's research forecast, the global lithium demand will increase from 430000 tons of LCE in 2021 to 1.5 million tons of LCE in 2025.

According to the official website of China Mineral Resources, the company was founded in 1999, originated from the former China Nonferrous Metals Industry Corporation, is a mining collectivized enterprise with the whole industry chain of mineral resources, the main business are: development and utilization of rare light metals (lithium, cesium, rubidium) resources, solid mineral exploration technical services and mineral rights development, and is the main producer and supplier of battery-level LiF in China.

According to Battery Network, China Mineral Resources is the main manufacturer and supplier of battery-grade LiF in China, with a market share of more than 40% in China, and is the main supplier of battery-level LiF in Tesla automotive system of the United States. Battery-grade LiF is an important raw material for the preparation of lithium-ion batteries. The battery-grade LiF produced by the company adopts the process of purifying industrial-grade lithium carbonate to high-purity lithium carbonate, and then transforming it into battery-grade LiF, with hydrogen fluoride. This process is the company's first invention, and the invention patent has been obtained. This process for the production of high purity lithium carbonate and battery grade LiF has the advantages of high recovery, low cost, coarse particle size, uniform particle size, high purity and easy drying. The new production line with an annual production capacity of 25000 tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide and battery-grade lithium carbonate invested by the company has been completed and successfully ignited and put into trial production on August 19th, 2021.

China Mineral Resources said that the company has gained valuable construction management experience through the construction of the 25000-ton lithium salt project, and the relevant production technology and production management organization mechanism have been comprehensively tested in practice. After the product was put on the market, it has been fully recognized by the enterprises at the head of the market, and the follow-up production capacity release of the project will bring good benefits to the company. Based on the successful construction experience of the first phase of lithium salt project, it is expected that the second phase of the new 35000 ton high purity lithium salt project will be completed more smoothly and efficiently.

In addition, the company lays a solid foundation for lithium salt production expansion in terms of lithium ore resources protection and expansion. The company's Tanco mine has unmined lithium ore reserves equivalent to 277100 tons of Li2CO3 equivalent; the company's proposed acquisition of Zimbabwe's Bikita mine is a mature and production mine, and the amount of retained lithium resources discovered is equivalent to 849600 tons of Li2CO3 equivalent. The above lithium ore resources guarantee can provide the company's lithium salt production line with medium-and long-term stable raw material supply.

It is worth noting that in 2021, with the rapid development of the new energy industry and the rising prosperity of the lithium salt industry, the price of lithium salt products continues to rise, the company's lithium salt business production and marketing is good, and profitability is improved.

According to the latest performance forecast issued by China Mineral Resources, the company expects the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies to be 500 million to 560 million yuan in 2021, an increase of 186.92% to 221.35% over the same period last year; net profit after deducting non-recurring profits and losses is 488 million to 548 million yuan, an increase of 221.1% to 260.57%; earnings per share are 1.5643 to 1.7520 yuan.

According to a research report released by China Galaxy Securities a few days ago, China Mineral Resources, as the leader of overseas geological prospecting and global cesium-rubidium resources, and the domestic "specialized and new" lithium new material LiF, the upstream lithium resource end of the industrial chain, will greatly increase the company's lithium ore reserves and lithium resource self-sufficiency rate, and accelerate the company's transformation into an integrated enterprise of lithium resource mining, selection and processing. It also lays a solid foundation for the company's lithium salt production expansion, opens up the company's future growth space and development potential, and the company's valuation is expected to be improved. Under the prosperity of the lithium industry and the huge performance increment provided by the company's new capacity release of lithium ore and lithium salt, China Mineral Resources will enter a period of high performance growth.