Ganfeng Lithium Industry Announces New Progress in overseas Lithium Mine acquisition plans to expand the annual production capacity of spodumene ore to 4 million tons

SMM: on December 1, Ganfeng Lithium Industry announced that recently, the company had received notice from Firefinch that it was considering the expansion of the second phase of the Goulamina spodumene project. It is reported that the expansion is intended to increase the project's capacity from 2.3 million tons to 4 million tons per year, an increase of 75 per cent. Accordingly, its spodumene concentrate production capacity will increase by about 450000 tons per year. Upon completion of the expansion of the project, the Goulamina spodumene project is expected to become one of the largest spodumene producers in the world.

The investment in Ganfeng Lithium can be traced back to June at the earliest. At that time, Ganfeng Lithium Industry announced that it planned to cooperate with Australian listed company Firefinch Limited to develop the Goulamina spodumene project in Mali. It is reported that under the previous agreement, Firefinch was required to transfer the Goulamina spodumene project to its grandson company, LMSA. Firefinch set up the Dutch company SPV and holds a 50 per cent stake, while the other 50 per cent will be acquired by Ganfeng Lithium through its subsidiary Ganfeng International. Eventually, Ganfeng Lithium and Firefinch will each hold a 50 per cent stake in the Goulamina spodumene project.

Recently, Ganfeng Lithium received a notice from Ganfeng International that Ganfeng International had completed the payment of US $39 million for the first phase of the equity transaction. Ganfeng International will hold a 50 per cent stake in SPV of the Netherlands upon completion of the final transaction. After the establishment of the Dutch company SPV, the mining license for the Goulamina spodumene project will be handed over to the company, and the transfer is expected to be completed in early 2022.

And after the completion of the investment transaction, Ganfeng Lithium Industry will receive an underwriting right of 50 per cent of the annual production capacity of about 455000 tons of spodumene concentrate in the first phase of the Goulamina project. If Ganfeng Lithium directly provides financial assistance or assists LMSA in obtaining debt funds provided by third-party banks or other financial institutions, it can obtain the right to underwrite the remaining 50% of the production capacity in the first phase of the project.

It is worth mentioning that Ganfeng Lithium Industry has previously disclosed that among the confirmed + indicated + estimated resources explored in the Goulamina spodumene project, the raw ore has reached 108.5 million tons, and the lithium oxide resources have reached 1.57 million tons, of which the proved + possible reserves measured according to the JORCCode2012 standard are 785000 tons, and there is still room for further increase. In response, Ganfeng lithium industry commented that the mine resource reserves are higher than most of the world's spodumene project reserves, and the project 6% lithium concentrate mining cost of US $306 per ton, is one of the world's low-cost lithium mines. The advantages of the Goulamina spodumene project are evident.

As we all know, with the higher-than-expected outbreak of demand for new energy vehicles this year, superimposed commodity prices continue to soar, and the prices of lithium electricity main materials and accessories are also rising rapidly. At a time when lithium mines are becoming increasingly tense, in order to stabilize costs, lithium industry chain enterprises have begun to layout upstream lithium mines and joined the domestic and international battle for lithium ore resources.

At the same time of the increasingly fierce competition for lithium ore, the industry is expected to superimpose Australia's main lithium mine Pilbara has twice auctioned spodumene concentrate to a record high price, which also keeps the price of spodumene concentrate high. According to SMM historical prices, as of December 2, the average price of spodumene concentrate (6% CIF China) was $1900 / ton, up $1482.5 / ton from the beginning of the year, or 35.5%.

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At the same time, the high price of lithium also keeps the price of lithium salt higher. And as the current winter, one of the lithium supply end of the salt lake production has shrunk to a certain extent, in the current demand continues to rise, lithium salt, which is already in low inventory, has once again triggered a multi-party scramble.

Take battery-grade lithium carbonate as an example, recent research by SMM shows that with the approach of the New year, the reserve mood of downstream enterprises increases, but considering that the mainstream lithium carbonate production enterprises are now overhauling in November-December, the supply will be significantly reduced, and its price is expected to continue to show an upward trend. "View details

As of December 2, the average spot price of domestic battery-grade lithium carbonate was 207500 yuan / ton, up 154500 yuan / ton from the beginning of the year, or 291.51%.

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