Dazhong Mining Plans to Invest 1 Billion Yuan to Build Lithium Metal Material Project

Dazhong Mining (001203.SZ) extended its lithium battery business to lithium metal battery materials.

Dazhong Mining announced that it signed an investment agreement with the Management Committee of Linwu High-Tech Industrial Development Zone to invest 1 billion yuan in constructing a "3,000 mt/year lithium metal battery new materials project." At today's closing, Dazhong Mining's stock price stood at 10.07 yuan, with a total market capitalization reaching 15.186 billion.

According to the announcement, the project will be implemented in three phases. Phase I focuses on R&D breakthroughs, aiming to complete the R&D, pilot testing, and intermediate testing of lithium metal battery new materials this year. Phase II plans to construct a 1,000 mt/year lithium metal battery new materials production line, with construction expected to commence in April next year and reach completion by the end of 2027. Phase III plans to build a 2,000 mt/year lithium metal battery new materials production line, with construction scheduled to start in June 2027 and operational by the end of 2028.

Dazhong Mining stated in the announcement that lithium metal battery materials offer significant advantages in high specific capacity, serving as a key raw material for high-performance batteries, especially solid-state batteries, aligning with the development trend of new energy industry upgrades. Currently, the company holds 3.24 million mt LCE resources in Linwu County and has supporting lithium ore mining and lithium carbonate processing projects, forming a complete industry chain integrating mining, beneficiation, and smelting. This investment in lithium metal battery new materials represents a forward-looking strategic move based on in-depth analysis of current market trends and future development considerations.

Currently, solid-state batteries have emerged as the core direction for next-generation battery technology due to their advantages in high energy density, enhanced safety, and long cycle life. Since 2024, semi-solid-state batteries have gradually entered mass production, with industry expectations that all-solid-state batteries will begin small-scale vehicle integration by 2027 and achieve mass production by 2030.

Earlier, Dazhong Mining disclosed the latest progress in converting exploration to mining rights for the Jijiaoshan Lithium Mine in Hunan. In March this year, the company announced that its Mineral Resources Development and Utilization Plan for the Jijiaoshan Lithium Mine (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan") had been approved.

From the mining license application process, after the development and utilization plan is approved, the subsequent steps include completing the dual-purpose mine plan, namely the Mine Geological Environmental Protection and Land Reclamation Plan, for review and filing, after which the new mining license approval process can commence.

On June 7, the company announced that the Mine Geological Environmental Protection and Land Reclamation Plan for the Jijiaoshan Lithium Mine's Tongtianmiao Section in Linwu County, Hunan Province (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan") recently passed expert review by the Ministry of Natural Resources. According to the announcement, the mining method at the Hunan Jijiaoshan mine area involves open-pit mining first, followed by underground mining. The open-pit mining scale is 20 million mt/year, and the underground mining scale is 8 million mt/year.

Currently, the expert review results of the "Plan" are still in the public announcement period. After the public announcement period for the review results concludes, Chenzhou Chengtai, a subsidiary of Dazhong Mining, will apply to the Ministry of Natural Resources for a mining license. According to the "Service Guide for Registration of New Mining Rights (Non-Oil and Gas)" issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources, an approval decision will be made within 40 days from the date of accepting the application. The company will promptly disclose relevant information based on the progress.