Chinese Battery Supplier Ganfeng Lithium Acquires 8.58% Equity of Litio for $13 Million
Ganfeng Lithium, a producer of lithium compounds and lithium metal, announced on Wednesday night its acquisition of 8.58% of shares in Litio Minera Argentina S.A. from International Lithium Corp. through its wholly-owned subsidiary Ganfeng Lithium Netherlands CO., B.V., for a transaction amount of $13.178 million.
The announcement reveals that the transaction has been completed recently, and that Ganfeng Lithium indirectly holds 100% equity of Litio Company and Litio’s Mariana Lithium Salt Lake Project (Mariana Project).
The company said that this transaction is to strengthen its layout in the upstream lithium resource end, and to better promote the future development, construction and production of the Mariana Project in Argentina.
According to the announcement, the counterparty International Lithium was established in December 2009 and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange Venture Exchange (TSXV) on May 24, 2011. Litio Company, the target company, was incorporated in Argentina in April 2010 and has not yet been listed. At present, Litio’s main business is mineral exploration and investment, and the company owns 100% interest in the Mariana Project located in Salta Province, Argentina.
Before this transaction, Ganfeng Lithium indirectly held 91.42% interest of Litio Company, and International Lithium held the remaining 8.58%. After the completion of this recent transaction, Ganfeng Lithium Industry now indirectly holds 100% equity of Litio Company.
In terms of the mining rights involved, Mariana Project currently holds 18 mining and exploration licenses located in Salta Province, Argentina, covering a total area of 32,436 hectares. At present, the project has planned an annual production capacity of 20,000 tons of lithium chloride in Phase I, and its production capacity is still under construction.
SEE ALSO: CATL Acquires Canadian Lithium Company Millennium for C$377 Million
According to The Security Times, at present, most of the global lithium resources come from salt lakes and hard rock lithium mines, among which mature salt lakes are mainly distributed in the South American lithium triangle and China, and most lithium mines are still concentrated in Western Australia. Domestic lithium mining giants and even peripheral competitors are aiming at overseas markets and stepping up lithium hoarding.
Since the beginning of this year, Ganfeng Lithium has completed several overseas lithium mine investments.
According to the performance forecast of the first three quarters disclosed by Ganfeng Lithium last Thursday evening, the company’s net profits grew from 2.08 billion yuan to 2.57 billion yuan. Its non-net profits increased by 3.46-4.51 times compared with the same period last year. In the third quarter, the company has grown net profits from 915 million yuan to 1.092 billion yuan.
