A Hong Kong subsidiary of Chinese lithium giant, Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. has announced plans to invest in a spodumene mine in the western African country of Mali to exploit its lithium resources.
The investment will be made through GFL International Co. Ltd., which will spend US $130 million to acquire 50% of a Netherlands-based special purpose vehicle (SPV) that was created to hold the mining rights to the Mali project. After the deal is completed, GFL is likely to invest up to US $40 million in exploration at the mine, the move will grant it at least half of Goulamina’s first-phase annual output, estimated in 455,000 tonnes of spodumene.
Undeveloped deposits
Mali’s government will take 10% of the equity free of charge and pay in cash for up to 10% more. Ganfeng’s move mirrors Zijin Mining and Citic’s, which last week secured 100% of the copper production from Ivanhoe Mines’ recently-launched Kamoa-Kakula mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
It also follows a similar deal Ganfeng inked in December to buy spodumene concentrate from the Manono mine in the DRC for an initial five-year period. The company did not take an equity stake in AVZ Minerals, the operation’s owner.
The lithium project was one of the world’s largest undeveloped deposits, with 108.5 million tonnes of resources and high-grade spodumene concentrate. It also said the project, which lies about 150 km (93 miles) by road south of Mali’s capital Bamako, had the potential to be one of the lowest cost producers.