Ganfeng Lithium plans to acquire an Argentine lithium salt lake project for $962 million
Thread Content
On the evening of November, Ganfeng Lithium issued a statement announcing its approval for its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ganfeng International Co., Ltd., or one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, to acquire up to 100% of the shares in Lithea Company. The total value of this acquisition shall not exceed $962 million (approximately 6.5 billion yuan). Lithea is primarily engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and development of lithium mining rights. Its key asset, the PPG project, is a lithium salt lake project located in Salta Province, Argentina, comprising two lithium salt lake assets: Pozuelos and Pastos Grandes (referred to as the PPG project). The company’s main product is lithium carbonate produced from lithium-containing brine in salt lakes, and lithium carbonate is primarily used as a raw material for manufacturing cathode materials for lithium batteries. The project is located in the Great Pastos Grandes salt lake area in Argentina. There are three main companies in this area: the Millennial salt lake, which is owned by Lithium Americas Corp.; the SDLP salt lake, owned by Arena; and the PPG project.
In addition, the PPG project plans an initial production capacity of 30,000 tons of lithium carbonate per year, with the possibility to expand this capacity to 50,000 tons per year depending on the natural resource conditions at the project site. To date, the resource volume of the PPG project is still under further exploration; a total of 11.06 million tons of lithium carbonate equivalent have been identified so far. Ganfeng Lithium stated that this acquisition will help the company further strengthen its presence in the upstream lithium resources sector, increase its self-sufficiency in terms of resources, and enhance its core competitiveness. It is in line with the company’s strategy of integrating its upstream and downstream operations as well as its development strategy for the new energy vehicle industry.