Our reporter Cao Qi
In the past, lepidolite extraction of lithium was unremarkable.
In the past two years, due to the increasing shortage of lithium resources, the leaders of lithium battery new energy, Ningde Times, BYD, and Guoxuan Hi-Tech have all gone to Yichun, Jiangxi to "lock mines", and local ceramic factories have also switched to lithium batteries... In 2021, the output of lithium salt in Yichun will reach 85,000 ton, accounting for 28.5% of the country's total output, forming a tripartite trend with lithium extraction from spodumene and salt lake.
As the core raw material of new energy for lithium batteries, how to rapidly increase the production of lithium carbonate in Yichun?
How to make good use of resources to seek industrial prosperity?
With these questions, a reporter from "Securities Daily" walked into Yichun, Jiangxi for an in-depth interview.
Local ceramic factories have cross-border lithium batteries
Recently, the price of lithium salt has reached a new high.
According to data from Shanghai Steel Federation, battery-grade lithium carbonate rose by 2,000 yuan/ton on October 18, with an average price of 537,500 yuan/ton, and industrial-grade lithium carbonate rose by 2,500 yuan/ton, with an average price of 523,000 yuan/ton.
"The current price of bulk transactions is relatively high, and the price of some bulk orders has also risen to more than 550,000 yuan / ton." Zhang Tao, chairman and general manager of Jiangxi Jinhui Lithium Industry Co., Ltd., told the "Securities Daily" reporter, "Today's market conditions Well, everyone is producing at full capacity, and the orders have been placed in the first half of next year. Since the beginning of this year, the company's sales have increased by 80% year-on-year, and the output value has increased by 500% year-on-year."
Due to the large number of orders and the inability to arrange production lines, many local lithium salt processing companies have found ceramic factories to help OEM, lease production lines, and conduct lithium ore roasting processing.
According to data from China Ceramics.com, on October 12 and 13, 8 ceramic tile production lines of 3 ceramic companies in Yichun were converted to lithium slag blank roasting, with a total investment of 142 million yuan.
Up to now, more than 50 production lines of 23 local ceramic enterprises have been converted to lithium slag blank roasting.
An industry insider told the "Securities Daily" reporter that in the past, lithium extraction from lepidolite was ignored by the market for a long time due to its low grade, high impurities and high cost.
After years of technological improvement, the cost of lithium extraction from lepidolite has dropped significantly, which is almost the same as that of spodumene.
“Today, even about 0.2% to 0.3% of the grade of raw ore will be scrambled for, and three or four years ago, this was unimaginable.”
Lithium battery faucet goes to Yichun "lock mine"
According to the data, the national lepidolite resources are mainly concentrated in Jiangxi. Among them, Yichun not only has Huashan porcelain stone mine, Baishuidong kaolin mine, Yifeng County Shiziling mine, Yifeng County Xikeng lithium mine and other more than 20 mica mines, but also has more than 20 mica mines in Asia. The largest lepidolite mine is Yichun tantalum-niobium mine. The overall lepidolite energy storage accounts for about 40% of the country's total (lepidolite concentrate is about 62.5 million tons), and the proven available lithium chloride reserves are equivalent to about 6.4 million tons of lithium carbonate. .
Yichun lepidolite mine has become the focus of competition among lithium battery giants.
In April this year, Ningde Times announced that its holding subsidiary Yichun Times successfully won the exploration right of ceramic soil (lithium-containing) in the Zhenkouli-Fengxin County Jianxiawo mining area in Yifeng County, Jiangxi Province with an offer of 865 million yuan; in September , BYD set up a new mining company in Yichun with a registered capital of 2 billion yuan, to build a comprehensive development and utilization production base project with an annual output of 30GWh of power batteries and an annual output of 100,000 tons of battery-grade lithium carbonate and ceramic soil (including lithium).
Guoxuan Hi-Tech is one of the first leading power manufacturers to enter the front-end layout of Yichun. Its investment in Jiangxi includes an annual output of 30GWh power battery project, a 20 million-ton mining and beneficiation project and a 120,000-ton lithium carbonate project.
The layout of Guoxuan Hi-Tech's lithium carbonate project in Yichun, Jiangxi involves upstream lepidolite mining and downstream processing and smelting. The company has held the Baishuidong mine and the Shuinan section of the mine. Among them, Baishuidong mine has produced lepidolite ore, and the Shuinan section The mine is in the process of applying for a mining license, and it is expected that the mining license will be obtained before the end of the year.
"Yichun has abundant lithium ore resources, but the resources are limited after all. The Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government proposed that 'good resources must be given to good industries and good owners'. As long as they are really willing to invest in Yichun and develop Yichun's leading lithium battery enterprises, they will give policy support. ." The person in charge of the relevant departments of the Yichun Municipal Government told the "Securities Daily" reporter.
In the past two years, Yichun, Jiangxi has rapidly become a gathering place for leading enterprises in the lithium battery new energy industry, which has also driven the rapid development of the local lithium battery new energy industry.
"At present, there are 159 lithium battery enterprises in the city. As of the end of August, the operating income of the lithium battery new energy industry was 55.842 billion yuan during the year (the operating income of the above-standard enterprises was 50.98 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 109.53%. This year's operating income is expected to exceed 150 billion yuan." The above-mentioned person in charge said.
Lithium salt production capacity is in urgent need of rapid release
Although lithium salt production capacity is expanding rapidly, it is still not enough for the downstream of the industrial chain that is "waiting to be fed".
"Now the industry chain is 'waiting for rice to cook'." Huang Zhongxi, vice president of Jiangxi Guoxuan Research Institute, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that the power battery capacity expansion rate is fast, and the company's battery project in Yichun signed a contract within 40 days, It takes 4 months to land, and one year to complete and put into production, while the mining of lithium mines is much more complicated and takes at least two years.
According to Huang Zhongxi, due to historical reasons, the lithium mines in Yichun are small and scattered, and the mining rights are complex, and there must be a certain safety boundary between mines, so it is very important to integrate the mining rights.
The development of mineral resources involves multi-department approval, and certain infrastructure is required to be mined, so the cycle will be lengthened.
"In the lithium salt processing link, since they are all large-scale customized equipment, the processing methods are different for each household, so it cannot be rolled out as quickly as a standardized power battery production line." Huang Zhongxi said.
The reporter noticed that Yichun City proposed that by 2025, the output of lepidolite and lithium carbonate will reach more than 7 million tons and 500,000 tons respectively, and the output of lithium carbonate will exceed the national production capacity in 2021.
How can the above goals be achieved?
"In compliance with relevant requirements, we will speed up the exploration and development of lithium resources. At present, the city's proven lithium oxide reserves are more than 6 million tons, of which more than 3 million tons were newly discovered last year." Yichun Mining Co., Ltd. The relevant person in charge said.
It is worth noting that with the rapid increase in the production of lithium carbonate, the consumption of waste residue is also a problem that cannot be ignored.
In this regard, the person in charge of the relevant departments of the Yichun Municipal Government said that in June this year, the local government issued the "Implementation Opinions on the Comprehensive Utilization of Lithium-containing Porcelain Clay Tailings and Lithium Slag in Yichun City", which will comprehensively improve the comprehensive utilization of tailings and tailings and lithium slag. Efficiency is the goal, technological innovation is the guide, a scientific research platform is built, industry standards are formulated, project construction is strengthened, and a development model for comprehensive utilization of tailings, tailings, and lithium slag is gradually established, which is vigorously guided by the government, effectively driven by the market, and actively participated by enterprises.
In August this year, the Yichun Municipal Government and Jiangxi Building Materials Group Co., Ltd. signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement to build a R&D center for comprehensive utilization of lithium slag and solid waste resources in Jiangxi Province and a scientific research and industrialization base for the utilization of lithium slag and solid waste resources in Yichun. The safe, resourceful and large-scale utilization of solid waste in the building materials industry will boost the high-quality development of Yichun's lithium battery new energy industry.
(Securities Daily)