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leads China’s $1.4 billion lithium consolidation effort","minmetals-leads-chinas-1-4-billion-lithium-consolidation-effort","article/minmetals-leads-chinas-1-4-billion-lithium-consolidation-effort",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":566,"content":576,"excerpt":706,"featured":51,"reporter":707,"_editable":711,"component":712,"seo_title":553,"categories":713,"visibility":719,"author_company":49,"featured_image":720,"seo_description":706,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":724,"formattedArticleDate":725},"66d3fdf9-6583-472f-bed3-c885d9c0468a","2024-09-13 00:00",[560,563],{"slug":561,"name":562},"china","China",{"slug":564,"name":565},"china-minmetals","China Minmetals",[567],{"slug":568,"name":569,"content":570},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":571,"image":572,"bio":574,"linkedin":575},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":573},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":577,"content":578},"doc",[579,586,591,606,611,616,623,628,633,638,643,648,653,662,675,686,691,696],{"type":580,"attrs":581,"content":582},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[583],{"text":584,"type":585},"China is stepping up consolidation of its domestic lithium resources, as state-owned mining giant China Minmetals Corp (Minmetals) plans to establish a $1.4 billion subsidiary, China Salt Lake Group, to speed up the development of lithium brine resources in the lithium-rich Qinghai province.","text",{"type":580,"attrs":587,"content":588},{"textAlign":49},[589],{"text":590,"type":585},"Central government-backed Minmetals will control a 53% majority stake, absorbing control of provincial government-owned Qinghai Salt Lake Industry’s existing lithium operations in the Qinghai region. The Qinghai provincial government will retain a minority ownership in the venture.",{"type":580,"attrs":592,"content":593},{"textAlign":49},[594,596,604],{"text":595,"type":585},"Qinghai Salt Lake Industry’s Qarhan brine operation is the largest operating lithium mine in China, producing 36,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate in 2023 – according to the",{"text":597,"type":585,"marks":598}," Benchmark Lithium Forecast",[599],{"type":600,"attrs":601},"link",{"href":602,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":603},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/lithium/data-reports/forecast/","url",{"text":605,"type":585},". Two greenfield expansions are underway close by, taking total capacity to over 70,000 LCE by 2028.",{"type":580,"attrs":607,"content":608},{"textAlign":49},[609],{"text":610,"type":585},"Minmetals, meanwhile, operates a smaller 10,000 tpa LCE capacity lithium brine resource in Qinghai province known as Yiliping, in partnership with Ganfeng Lithium. ",{"type":580,"attrs":612,"content":613},{"textAlign":49},[614],{"text":615,"type":585},"First proposed by President Xi Jingping in 2021, the consolidation aligns with China’s national vision of accelerating the development of ‘world class’ lithium brine resources in the Qinghai province. The involvement of Minmetals is indicative of the central government’s push to play an increasing role in the build out of its domestic lithium sector. ",{"type":617,"attrs":618,"content":620},"heading",{"level":619,"textAlign":49},4,[621],{"text":622,"type":585},"Minmetals expands battery supply chain footprint",{"type":580,"attrs":624,"content":625},{"textAlign":49},[626],{"text":627,"type":585},"Minmetals is no stranger to consolidation, having orchestrated a merger with two-rare earth companies in 2021 to create one of China’s big six rare-earth producers. By consolidating key assets in Qinghai, Minmetals will seek to replicate this approach in the lithium industry, creating a state-controlled leader akin to Chile’s SQM. ",{"type":580,"attrs":629,"content":630},{"textAlign":49},[631],{"text":632,"type":585},"Minmetals also owns Asia’s largest graphite mine—the Yunshan mine in Luobei province—and has extended its footprint from graphite mining to processing and the production of battery anode material.",{"type":580,"attrs":634,"content":635},{"textAlign":49},[636],{"text":637,"type":585},"In addition, the company took over Changyuan Li-Co (rebranded as Minmetals Materials), one of the world’s leading producers of cathode materials, positioning itself as a major player across the battery value chain.",{"type":580,"attrs":639,"content":640},{"textAlign":49},[641],{"text":642,"type":585},"Given its control over key battery materials, Benchmark analysts believe Minmetals could look to vertically integrate its operations to include downstream battery cell production.",{"type":617,"attrs":644,"content":645},{"level":619,"textAlign":49},[646],{"text":647,"type":585},"China’s lithium industry",{"type":580,"attrs":649,"content":650},{"textAlign":49},[651],{"text":652,"type":585},"Chinese producers have long relied on imported minerals, but domestic mined production has steadily been growing to meet demand from its vast domestic battery industry.",{"type":580,"attrs":654,"content":655},{"textAlign":49},[656],{"type":657,"attrs":658},"image",{"id":49,"alt":659,"src":660,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":661},"","https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXe1xVlvv3-VIT9u28D1RX5kqYOO7SDgiGIt6L8puNBhntnGgKePfbxIvqsxcSnvEiIO8CaWcoTxRP3deyZXzCz1ao6ewFNtOKBOdh7jvgqX1Nkg61I8RUcT0KlMDFqElyXa2zf7N0DO_3se3NBGFxRuG5SA?key=sXVtLXQlegGUCBpkZWvHVg",{},{"type":580,"attrs":663,"content":664},{"textAlign":49},[665,667,673],{"text":666,"type":585},"China is now the third biggest producer of lithium, behind Australia and Chile. Supply of lithium from China is set to almost quadruple by 2028, according to ",{"text":668,"type":585,"marks":669},"Benchmark’s Lithium Forecast,",[670],{"type":600,"attrs":671},{"href":672,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":603},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/lithium/portal/",{"text":674,"type":585}," with mica mines in Jiangxi and spodumene mines in Xinjiang the major source of mine supply growth. ",{"type":580,"attrs":676,"content":677},{"textAlign":49},[678,680],{"text":679,"type":585},"However, due to the relatively low grade of ore, these mines make up the higher end of the lithium cost curve and are estimated by Benchmark to be loss-making at current market prices. This week China’s largest battery manufacturer, CATL, reportedly ",{"text":681,"type":585,"marks":682},"shut a lithium mine in Jiangxi province due to falling prices.",[683],{"type":600,"attrs":684},{"href":685,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":603},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/what-does-the-reported-shutdown-of-catls-mine-mean-for-the-lithium-market",{"type":580,"attrs":687,"content":688},{"textAlign":49},[689],{"text":690,"type":585},"China’s lithium brine operations are concentrated in Qinghai province, with supply from brine is expected to grow from 100,000 in 2024 to 193,000 LCE in 2028, accounting for 36% of total lithium supply from China.",{"type":580,"attrs":692,"content":693},{"textAlign":49},[694],{"text":695,"type":585},"Unlike Australia and South America, whose lithium industries are dominated by a small number of large-scale operations, China’s lithium sector consists of a greater number of smaller producers. ",{"type":580,"attrs":697,"content":698},{"textAlign":49},[699,704],{"text":700,"type":585,"marks":701},"According to the Benchmark Lithium Forecast",[702],{"type":600,"attrs":703},{"href":602,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":603},{"text":705,"type":585},", China had 27 operational lithium assets in 2023, which extracted lithium from a mixture of hard rock and brine deposits. This compares to just 8 mines in Australia and 9 operational assets in South America.","China is stepping up consolidation of its domestic lithium resources, as state-owned mining giant China Minmetals Corp (Minmetals) plans to establish a $1.4 billion subsidiary, China Salt Lake Group, to speed up the development of lithium brine resources in the lithium-rich Qinghai province. Central government-backed Minmetals will control a 53% majority stake, absorbing control of […]",[708],{"slug":568,"name":569,"content":709},{"job_title":571,"image":710,"bio":574,"linkedin":575},{"filename":573},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"66d3fdf9-6583-472f-bed3-c885d9c0468a\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[714,717],{"slug":715,"name":716},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":718,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":659,"name":659,"focus":659,"title":659,"source":659,"filename":721,"copyright":659,"fieldtype":722,"meta_data":723,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/39e88178e2/bm-china-flag.jpg","asset",{"alt":659,"title":659,"source":659,"copyright":659},"Sep 13, 2024","13th September 2024",[],[],1792688571675]