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2023

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09

Real exploration of western Sichuan sky-high lithium ore: sleeping in the mountains and deep valleys scale mining still needs a lot of investment.

In mid-August this year, when the price of lithium carbonate was no longer high, the two lithium prospecting rights auctions in Aba Prefecture, Sichuan became one of the most concerned events in the domestic new energy industry, and it has also become a well-known company and capital in many industries. The wrestling field. Ningde era, Sheng new lithium energy and other well-known capital in this lithium mine battle, kill inextricably. First, Sichuan Energy Power's affiliated enterprises won the exploration right of Lijiagou North Lithium Mine with 1 billion yuan. Then, in the auction of Jiada Lithium Mine with larger lithium reserves, the large and medium-sized mining industry, which suddenly broke out, became the final winner with a 4.2 billion high price.

The 6.4 billion-priced Snowell lithium mine and 4.2 billion's Jiada lithium mine have created two sky-high prices in two auctions since last year ...... They write footnotes for the history of lithium trading in China.

 

In mid-August this year, when the price of lithium carbonate was no longer high, the two lithium prospecting rights auctions in Aba Prefecture, Sichuan became one of the most concerned events in the domestic new energy industry, and it has also become a well-known company and capital in many industries. The wrestling field. Ningde era, Sheng new lithium energy and other well-known capital in this lithium mine battle, kill inextricably. First, Sichuan Energy Power's affiliated enterprises won the exploration right of Lijiagou North Lithium Mine with 1 billion yuan. Then, in the auction of Jiada Lithium Mine with larger lithium reserves, the large and medium-sized mining industry, which suddenly broke out, became the final winner with a 4.2 billion high price.

 

But the winner may not take all, large and medium-sized mining to a high premium to win the Jiada lithium mine, which is also seen as an asset burden. However, 4.2 billion bid may only be a ticket for Dazhong Mining to enter the lithium mine territory in western Sichuan, because the reality is more bony than imagined, and mining is not necessarily good.

 

In mid-to-late August, the reporter of "Daily Economic News" actually explored the Jiada Lithium Mine in Aba Prefecture, the North of Lijiagou in Jinchuan County, and the four major lithium mines of Lijiagou Project and Dangba Lithium Mine. Judging from the projects that have been built and developed, although various sources of capital have been in the market for many years, mass production mines are scarce. The main reasons are poor geological conditions, complex climate environment, safety and environmental protection and environmental governance requirements. The reporter visited and found that the mountain roads where some projects are located are muddy and difficult to walk, and simple wrong cars are more difficult to support large-scale truck transportation. Part of the vein belt is complex, which puts forward higher requirements for tailings construction and environmental protection.

 

However, there is still a long way to go from exploration to actual mining for the latest falling mallet lithium mine and Jinchuan Lijiagou North Project.At the same time, from the perspective of local governments and enterprises, speeding up the development of lithium resources more efficiently, more environmentally friendly and safer has become a common demand, which may constitute the main driving force for the accelerated mining of lithium mines in Aba Prefecture in the future.

 

Cliff side of the ore under the mountain road

 

From a geographical point of view, the other end of the Jiada lithium mine is the Dangba lithium mine, coupled with Lijiagou and Yelonggou, which together form a large lithium belt, which is called "the largest lithium belt in Asia" by the outside world ".

 

Observing the progress of the Dangba lithium mine under Jinxin Mining, which has been under construction for many years, can also predict to a certain extent the difficulty of mining the new lithium mine in the future.

 

On the township road of Gorda Village in Malkang City, from Songzan Bridge to Genza Bridge, an inconspicuous fork in the road can lead to the foot of Dangba Lithium Mine, where there is a simple warehouse of Jinxin Mining. The finely ground lithium ore accumulates in the corners, which is the most crude processing. Liu Qiang (pseudonym), the person in charge of Jinxin Mining, goes up the mountain from this path every day. This is a mountain road that is not hardened with asphalt. The width of the lane is only 1.5 times that of an ordinary off-road vehicle axle. In the middle of the mountain canyon, he drove along the winding road. On narrower sections of the road, the car turns almost 90 degrees, and the wheels have to be pressed against the curbhead.

 

The rugged road leading to the Dangba Lithium Mine Photo Source: Every Reporter Xu Shuai Photograph

 

On the path by the cliff, under a drop of hundreds of meters, the turbulent Dajinchuan River is stirring the mud wantonly.

 

Liu Qiang is from Gansu. Before this year, he had been staying at the mine in Inner Mongolia of Guocheng Mining (000688.SZ, stock price 12.42 yuan, market value 13.881 billion yuan). Although they are all mines, he has become accustomed to the endless grassland Gobi in Inner Mongolia. In the Dangba of the alpine canyon, he had the first skin-cutting feeling of "fear of heights. On the evening of August 16, it rained in Malcand, and the already muddy road became softer, and the front wheel could be clearly felt when driving around the corner. When the wrong car, Liu Qiang was more careful than usual.

 

Drive for more than an hour to reach an altitude of 3600 meters. This is the core vein of the Dangba Lithium Mine, which is also called "Asia's largest lithium mine". The amount of ore held in the mining right of Dangba Lithium Mine is 50.914 million tons, containing about 678000 tons of Li2O (lithium oxide). According to the ratio of 1 to 2.5, there are nearly 1.7 million tons of lithium carbonate. At present, the main assets of Jinxin Mining are the mining rights, prospecting rights and related plant and equipment of the 50000-ton mining project.

 

So many "crazy stones" are now lying quietly among the peaks. They are hidden deep in the mountains, and Liu Qiang's important job is to make a hole leading to the core mining area. The process of taking spodumene should be careful, and the surrounding spodumene should not be dug too much. Similar to the house decoration to avoid smashing the load-bearing wall, the column is too thin, will lead to the collapse of the column.

 

About two kilometers from the mine hole, the concentrator further grinds the coarse spodumene ore to facilitate transportation down the mountain.The steep mountain lacks a large area of flat industrial land, and the concentrator and factory office can only be arranged due to the terrain, strung along the mountain trend into a line.

 

Dangba, the most resource-endowed spodumene mining area in the country, but the scene of large-scale mining can only stay in imagination. When the cliffs of the alpine valleys encounter uncertain weather conditions, Liu Qiang regards this as one of the factors that make it difficult to mine on a large scale.

 

This is a very real problem, two cars on the mountain road in the wrong car are so difficult, how to transport thousands of tons of lithium ore from the altitude of 3600 meters high scale down the mountain? Liu Qiang thinking of large-scale mining path, pipeline transportation of lithium concentrate may be more feasible. In this way, after the ore on the mountain is broken, it can slide to the warehouse at the foot of the mountain like a slide.

 

The Dangba mine faces the Lijiagou mine of Chuanneng Power across the Jinchuan River. Dangba is slightly higher, which can have a panoramic view of the mountain road leading to Lijiagou mining area and the mill factory under construction at the foot of the mountain. Sometimes on the way down the mountain, Liu Qiang will observe the layout of the facilities of the Lijiagou mine on the other side and discuss the doorway with his colleagues. Lijiagou mining area is to take the pipeline to transport concentrate, which is one of the few available transport methods in harsh and steep geographical environment.

 

On the mountain leading to Dangba Lithium Mine, look at Lijiagou Flotation Factory Photo Source: Photographed by Reporter Xu Shuai

 

The sky-high lithium ore sleeps in the mountains and deep valleys.

 

 

In the face of great enthusiasm for lithium, any difficulties and obstacles can be expected to be eliminated. After last year's Snowell was included in the Ningde era at a 6.4 billion price, the war for sky-high lithium mines started again in August this year.

 

In the end, Chuaneng Power's affiliated enterprises won the exploration right of Lijiagou North Lithium Mine for 1 billion yuan, and Dazhong Mining in Inner Mongolia won the exploration right of Jiada Lithium Mine for 4.2 billion yuan.

 

Liu Qiang is very concerned about this news. First, in addition to Sichuan Energy Power (000155.SZ, stock price 12.65 yuan, market value 18.67 billion yuan), Shengxin Lithium Energy (002240.SZ, stock price 22.96 yuan, market value 21.164 billion yuan) and Guocheng Mining, Aba Lithium Resources has ushered in a new force of Dazhong Mining. Second, the bid was unexpected, beyond the expectations of Liu Qiang and his peers.

 

The Gada lithium mine is the "neighbor" of the Dangba lithium mine, although they are separated by several kilometers of high mountains.

 

The news of the results of the bid for the Jiada lithium mine did not reach the city of Marcand soon. Until August 17, a government worker in Marcand even thought that the final winner was Ningde era (300750.SZ, stock price 230.5 yuan, market value 1013.346 billion yuan).

 

But in this city, the name of Jiada Lithium Mine is not unfamiliar. A local taxi driver said: "There are many lithium mines on this mountain, which are very valuable."

 

It's one thing to be worth money, and another to become cash. Dong Mi, a listed company familiar with lithium resources in Aba Prefecture, said that Gada Lithium Mine was only an auction of exploration rights, "there is nothing on the mountain". The natural conditions of the Jiada lithium mine are no different from the Dangba lithium mine and the Lijiagou lithium mine, and the dangerous mountain mining is a common shackle that needs to be solved.

 

In the week of August 16, the exploration team of Dazhong Mining went up the mountain, and the process of going up the mountain alone was very difficult. Geological experts in Sichuan Province described the way up the mountain to Jiada Lithium Mine. After driving to Jiada Village, walking up the mountain, the unilateral walking time is as long as 4 or 5 hours.

 

The coverage area of Jiada lithium mine is huge, with an overall area of 21.2247 square kilometers. The exploration area of the spodumene mine exploration project in Dangba Township of Jinxin Mining is 9.6108 square kilometers, less than half of the former area. The mining area of Jiada lithium mine even spans to Jinchuan County next door to Malkang City.

 

Drive from Malkang City, drive south along the Dajinchuan River, and slowly go up the mid-level mountain. It takes about 2 hours to reach the mid-level mountain in the west of Shaer Township, Jinchuan County. There is a virgin forest at an altitude of nearly 3000 meters. This virgin forest is inaccessible. Only the villagers of nearby Kerma Village come here to "fight fungi" (Note: digging wild fungi). From the point of view of latitude and longitude positioning, here is close to the inflection point coordinates of the Jiada lithium mine.

 

Photo source: every reporter Xu Shuai photo

 

On the same day, the reporter met a Kerma village villager, he did not hear that there is a lithium mine. However, he has heard a little about the sky-high lithium mine auction. After taking out the positioning coordinates to confirm the longitude and latitude of the Jiada lithium mine, his expression was somewhat excited. For this and other villagers, mining in the future can bring more economic benefits.

 

 

Different from the coordinates on the map, it seems to be close at hand, but it is actually far away.

 

 

Lijiagou North Lithium Mine, about 30KM away from Jinchuan County, is between Dajinchuan River and Muzugou. Although it is only one north and one south of Lijiagou, it still takes more than one hour to drive from the Genza Bridge, where the Lijiagou project under Chuaneng Power is located, to the Lijiagou North project. This more than 1 hour journey, to drive along the Sun River, through the canyon forest, through no man's land, to reach the plateau meadow at an altitude of 4192.7 meters.

 

No signal, inaccessible, complex landform, narrow lanes ...... are the natural conditions that Lijiagou North Project and Jiada Lithium Mine face together. The reporter learned from people familiar with the matter that the north of Lijiagou is actually close to the Lijiagou project, which can be exploited collaboratively in the future, and the development efficiency and economic benefits of the mine will be greatly improved.

 

Whether it is the government personnel of Maori Township, where Lijiagou North is located, or the ordinary villagers of Kerma Village, they are aware of the huge economic value behind the mining. However, it takes time to realize the wish, especially for Dazhong Mining, the new capital of Sichuan West Lithium Mine, the success of the 4.2 billion auction and the mining are two different things. In a more realistic way, in the case of limited domestic lithium resources, 4.2 billion auction is only a ticket to enter the territory of the lithium mine in Aba Prefecture. Large-scale mining transportation channels, mining infrastructure, and all kinds of safety and environmental protection permits required for mining are the problems that large and medium-sized mining industries must face.

 

Lijiagou project flotation plant equipment has been installed.

 

“All electricity, communication and transportation must be solved by oneself.Liu Qiang made an estimate for the follow-up construction of Jiada lithium mine, and the investment in the construction of mine infrastructure projects will exceed 1 billion yuan.

 

The investment estimate of more than 1 billion yuan is not without reference, and the Lijiagou project under Sichuan Energy Power is a good reference sample. The total investment in Lijiagou's 1.05 million-ton annual mining and processing project reached 1.65 billion yuan. Tracing back to the history of Dexin Mining, as early as June 2013, Dexin Mining obtained a mining license, and the listed companies that have had an intersection with it include Chuaneng Power, Yahua Group, Zhonghe shares (delisted) Wait.

 

Long construction time, mine disaster, remote location of the project... In recent years, Chuaneng Power has been "tortured" about the progress of Lijiagou project at the annual general meeting of shareholders, on the interactive platform of investors and during the investigation of various institutions.

 

The flotation site of the Lijiagou project is right next to the Genza Bridge, at the foot of the mountain near the Dajinchuan River. Lithium ore flotation is a key part of lithium ore to concentrate output, which determines the size of the marginal value of lithium ore. The raw ore is transported for rough processing, while the separated lithium concentrate can already be said to be finely processed. Concentrate is a valuable presence, the domestic lithium carbonate processing needs of the concentrate mostly from imports. In the second quarter of this year alone, the import volume of lithium concentrate reached 900000 tons. According to the price of 3000 yuan per ton, the import amount was close to 3 billion yuan.

 

Photo Source of Lijiagou Flotation Workshop beside Genza Bridge: Photographed by reporter Xu Shuai

 

Last year, the Lijiagou project was to sell lithium ore (infrastructure mining) directly. In the first half of 2022, the sales revenue of infrastructure by-product ore will be 27.8761 million yuan.

 

In order to maximize the benefits of the Lijiagou project, the most important thing is still to complete the separation of lithium concentrate. In the flotation workshop, two disc-shaped concentrate thickener can be clearly seen, and the general construction of concentrate warehouse has been completed, which shows that the general appearance of the flotation site of Lijiagou project has gradually become clear.

 

At the scene, a staff member and a person familiar with the project said that the construction of the Lijiagou project is in full progress, the shaft system equipment has been installed, and the mining plant and tailings pond are under construction as planned. According to workers at the scene, the tailings pond is on the Lijiagou mountain. However, it is not easy to go up the mountain. There are checkpoints at the intersection of the mountain, and you need to apply for forest fire prevention permits, passes and other documents.

 

Photo of checkpoint leading to Lijiagou tailings pond Source: Photo by reporter Xu Shuai

 

As for the construction process of tailings pond, different sources have different opinions. The reporter failed to go up the mountain to verify it. The specific situation is still unknown. However, according to the official website of China Metallurgical Tiangong Group Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Minmetals, released on May 4, the flood discharge tunnel outside the Jinchuan tailings pond project was connected, marking a milestone step in the overall project of the tailings pond from commissioning. It is mentioned that the geological conditions of the stratum crossed by the whole tunnel are extremely complicated, which is located in a high altitude area of about 3400m, and the height difference of the tunnel outside the reservoir is about 300m. Due to the harsh construction environment and height difference, it is extremely difficult to discharge slag and smoke in the cave, and the traffic roads are complex and changeable. Construction machinery and materials need a lot of time and manpower to be transported to the site. In the early spring period, rain and snow are frequent and the mountains are steep.

 

The above-mentioned interviewed workers also mentioned that the construction conditions on the mountain are complicated and bad, especially in terms of weather. "In winter, the mountain is full of snow". According to the official website of China Metallurgical Tiangong Group Co., Ltd., the project team said that it would complete all the tailings pond projects on schedule with good quality and quantity.

 

In addition to the Lijiagou project, the Dangba lithium mine also faces the problem of tailings pond construction. Liu Qiang said that the tailings pond of Dangba still needs to be turned over a mountain, and now he just wants to leave a vacant lot there. If there is no tailings pond to undertake slag, concentrate large-scale production is undoubtedly a dream.

 

Poor geological conditions, complex climate environment and high safety and environmental protection requirements are the objective constraints faced by the lithium mining project in the plateau alpine adit.

 

To some extent, due to the relatively rapid progress of construction and the back of the listed company Chuaneng Power, the Lijiagou project has become the hope of large-scale production of lithium mines in Aba Prefecture.

 

However, it was Shengxin Lithium Energy Oino Mining that entered production earlier, which owns the mining rights of Yilonggou spodumene. Yilonggou spodumene mine open-pit mining, mineral processing, tailings engineering project has passed the "three simultaneous" acceptance, has been put into production in November 2019, the original ore production scale of 405000 tons/year, equivalent to about 75000 tons/year of lithium concentrate. Oino Mining has also become one of the few mining enterprises in Aba Prefecture that can complete mass production.

 

Lithium Mining in Western Sichuan Ushers New Opportunities

 

The current mining progress of the West Sichuan lithium mine is difficult to match its reserve status.

 

The lithium mines with the largest supply and the most development potential in China are mainly concentrated in Ganzi Prefecture and Aba Prefecture of Sichuan Province. The proven lithium reserves of lithium mines in Sichuan Province are about 1.89 million tons in terms of lithium oxide (about 4.68 million tons in terms of lithium carbonate equivalent), and only 31% of the resources have reached the exploration level at present. However, at present, only the methylka vein 134 of Rongjie Co., Ltd., located in Ganzi Prefecture, has completed real mass production, which has a mining capacity of 1.05 million tons/year and a beneficiation capacity of 450000 tons/year.

 

Source: Photo by reporter Xu Shuai

 

To some extent, Ganzi Prefecture has completed the "1.0" breakthrough of large-scale production of spodumene, and is currently in the stage of thinking about how to expand production on a larger scale. However, Aba Prefecture is still in the "1.0" stage, and what is being considered now is how to complete the first step of large-scale mining.

 

The sky-high price of 6.4 billion yuan for the Snowway lithium mine and the 4.2 billion competition for the Garda lithium mine, although both reflect the determination of the participants to value lithium resources, but the constraints of the two are still not the same.

 

Most of the veins in the methyl card area are open-pit mines, and they are distributed on the plateau meadow, with good mining and transportation conditions. Take Methyka 134 vein as an example. Xinduqiao to Kangding is on National Highway 318, which is already a very mature traffic route. Whether it is the site selection or concentrate transportation, there is no big problem.

 

However, the mining of the Gada lithium mine, the Lijiagou project, or the Dangba project, is limited to the natural geographical environment. The lack of convenient transportation network also brings some difficulties to the mining and transportation of mineral resources, and increases the cost and risk of mining. In addition to the special environmental and ecological protection needs of Aba Prefecture, relevant parties will become very cautious about the implementation of mining projects.

 

However, Aba's outstanding lithium resource endowment has attracted all kinds of capital.

 

These capitals also constitute the history of the capital market competition for lithium mines. The first stage is represented by Zhonghe shares, while the second stage participants are Sichuan Energy Power, Shengxin Lithium Energy, Guocheng Mining, Ningde Times, Sichuan Fa Long Python and so on. However, the first stage is more about concept speculation and stock price pull. In 2015, it was still in the first round of lithium bull market, and Zhonghe shares completed a 10 billion market value jump by lithium mine speculation. But after the mask was removed, the company was delisted. The second phase sees a shift from capital and conceptual speculation to industry.

 

The above-mentioned Marcand municipal government officials admitted that Jinxin Mining's complicated equity disputes in the past were another important factor hindering lithium mining.

 

For the development of lithium resources, Sichuan Province has proposed to firmly support the deepening of cooperation between key enterprises and resource areas, and orderly, efficient and clean development of lithium resources.

 

This happens to be an important condition for pushing the first stage to jump to the second stage. After all, in Lijiagou in 2017, the road up the mountain was also muddy and difficult to travel. Now the hardened road is blessed, and the traffic environment has been greatly improved.

 

The staff of the Marcand municipal government said that in the context of poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, the government has spent a lot of energy to repair the alpine canyon township roads.

 

The reporter noticed that on the way to the north of Lijiagou, although there are many no man's land scattered, the road has basically hardened. If the subsequent site is a necessary place for mining, it will save the enterprise's infrastructure costs.

 

The staff of the Marcand municipal government also said that while paying attention to ecology and production safety, the local government is now emphasizing the importance of improving the economy.

 

According to a first draft of Marcand's lithium mine planning, which refers to adhering to the principle of "increasing storage and production and efficient utilization", promoting the development of lithium resources in an orderly manner, steadily promoting the mining of lithium mines in Dangba, Arabia, Longgu and Jiada, and strengthening the exploration of lithium resources. Based on the advantages of the development of the lithium-based industry, to build the lithium industry "capital plus capital" cooperation level, to build the "Kore mining area" as the center of the "Ziyuan mining area". At the same time mentioned, to achieve less input, high output, low pollution, high efficiency. Strict crackdown on cross-border and illegal mining.

 

The "Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture Mineral Resources Master Plan (2021-2025)" gives the goal that by the end of 2025, lithium ore resources will achieve new breakthroughs in prospecting. Focus on strengthening the exploration of existing prospecting rights, improve the comprehensive exploration level of important mineral resources, increase the reserves of lithium resources, and meet the needs of building a lithium resource base. One large and medium-sized lithium ore area has been newly discovered and evaluated in the Kolin area.

 

 

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Note: This articleFrom the Daily Economic News

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