Lithium carbonate futures once hit 90,000 yuan/mt, Sunresin New Materials wins bid for salt lake lithium extraction project 

Salt lake lithium extraction, with its low cost and very short extraction cycle, has attracted many producers to lay out their plans. On August 18, Sunresin New Materials announced that it had recently received a notice of winning the bid for the adsorption system for Lop Nur Salt Lake brine lithium comprehensive utilization expansion and renovation project of SDIC Xinjiang Lithium Industry Co., Ltd., with a winning bid amount of 35.7712 million yuan.

Sunresin New Materials stated that the implementation of this project will help provide full life cycle, one-stop technical optimization and upgrade services to its customer, enhancing the company's market share and technological control capabilities in the salt lake lithium extraction industry, and will have a positive impact on the development of the company's resource and new energy business areas.

According to Sunresin New Materials, the company's revenue from salt lake lithium extraction systems in 2024 was 99 million yuan, and the revenue from the metal resources segment of adsorption separation materials was 256 million yuan. Notably, the company's adsorption separation technology can also be used for nickel extraction from laterite nickel ore, which has already been industrialized.

Currently, there are multiple technical routes for salt lake lithium extraction in China, mainly including adsorption, solvent extraction, membrane separation, electrochemical methods, solar pond methods, and calcination leaching. Among these, the adsorption method is characterized by simple operation, high selectivity, good economic benefits, and environmental friendliness.

Salt lakes are the largest type of lithium resource reserves in China, playing a significant strategic role in ensuring the security of domestic lithium supply. Industry insiders pointed out that China's salt lake lithium has great development potential, especially the process of extracting lithium carbonate from high magnesium-to-lithium ratio salt lake brines. Resources should be integrated, and efforts should be made to increase R&D and industrialization processes, to form production capacity as soon as possible.

In addition to Sunresin New Materials, in recent years, BYD, EVE, Gotion High-tech, Sunwoda, Ganfeng Lithium, Fulin Precision Machining, Lanke Lithium, Tibet Mining, Jiuwu Hi-Tech, Minmetals Salt Lake, Jinyuan Shares, Zijin Mining, and many other producers have also laid out plans for salt lake lithium extraction.

It is understood that in 2022, EVE and Sunresin New Materials signed an agreement to jointly participate in the development and utilization of lithium resources at the Jieze Chaka Salt Lake in Tibet. According to the agreement, Sunresin New Materials will facilitate the relevant parties of the project to supply qualified lithium chemicals to EVE and its designated parties at a competitive price on a long-term priority basis. In addition, both parties will support the development of the joint venture, hoping to make it a benchmark enterprise in the lithium chemical processing field.

As one of the key materials for lithium batteries, the price of lithium carbonate has experienced a roller coaster ride over the past few years. At the beginning of 2021, the price of lithium carbonate was only about 50,000 yuan/mt, and by November 2022, it had soared to a high of 600,000 yuan/mt. Afterward, the price of lithium carbonate continued to fall, dropping below 80,000 yuan/mt.

With changes in the supply-demand pattern, the price of lithium carbonate rebounded this year. In January 2025, the price of lithium carbonate was operating in the range of 75,000-80,000 yuan/mt. On August 18, SMM data showed that the average spot price of battery-grade lithium carbonate was 82,700 yuan/mt, up 700 yuan/mt from the previous trading day.

Futures-wise, on August 18, the price of lithium carbonate futures rose again, with the most-traded LC2511 contract reaching a high of 90,100 yuan/mt during the session, setting a new high for the near term. By the close of trading, the LC2511 contract was at 89,200 yuan/mt, up 4.67%.

Please note that this news is sourced from http://www.cbea.com/djgc/202508/389917.html and translated by SMM.