Lithium exploration auctions in China's Sichuan attract strong interest

Sichuan Energy Investment Development

14/08/2023 05:09

BEIJING, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Two auctions for lithium
exploration rights in China's southwestern Sichuan province drew
heavy bidding interest and concluded at prices starting prices
thousands of times starting prices, according to information by
a provincial government body.
    An auction for five-year exploration rights to the Jiada
Lithium Mine in Maerkang city that started last Thursday
received 11,307 bids and concluded at 4.2 billion yuan ($579
million) on Sunday, 1,317 times higher than the starting price
of 3.19 million yuan, according to auction data from the Sichuan
Public Resources Trading Center.
    Inner Mongolia Dazhong Mining  001203.SZ  said in a
statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Monday its unit won
the Jiada auction.
    The other auction, for five-year exploration rights to the
Lijiagoubei Lithium Mine, received 3,412 bids within three days
from Wednesday.
    It concluded on Friday at 1.01 billion yuan, versus its
starting price at 570,000 yuan, won by Sichuan Energy Investment
Holdings, according to the Sichuan Public Resources Trading
Center.  
        Both mines are located at Aba, a Tibetan and Qiang
autonomous prefecture in northwestern Sichuan. The region where
the mines are located is home to about 1.4 million tonnes of
lithium, a mining report by Aba government in January showed.
  
    China is the world's biggest consumer and producer of
lithium carbonate, an important metal for electric vehicle (EV) 
batteries.
        China, which is also the world's top EV maker, will see
lithium demand for EV manufacture grow by an average of 20.4%
annually from 2023 to 2032, while its lithium mining output will
rise by an average of 6% annually over the same period,
according to BMI Research.
  
($1 = 7.2591 Chinese yuan renminbi)

 (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Andrew Hayley; Editing by Lincoln
Feast)
 ((Siyi.Liu@thomsonreuters.com;))