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CATL taps outside suppliers for lithium ore as flagship mine stays closed
China’s CATL has placed orders with external suppliers for lithium ore in November, sources say, as the battery giant seeks alternative feedstock while its flagship Jianxiawo mine is closed.
A CATL subsidiary and joint venture producing lithium carbonate in Yichun, near where the mine is located, made the orders with traders earlier this month, according to two sources with direct knowledge who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The two companies would rarely do that when the mine was operating at full capacity, one of the sources said.
CATL did not respond to a request for comment.
Mining at CATL’s Jianxiawo site, one of several lithium assets it owns in Yichun in Jiangxi province, has been suspended since early August after its mining license expired.
CATL said in August it was applying to renew the license as soon as possible. A month later, Chinese newspaper Securities Times reported that the mine was set to reopen soon. However, CATL has yet to announce such a move.
The Jianxiawo mine has annual production capacity equivalent to about 46,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate, accounting for 3% of 2025 global output, according to data from Australian government.
The mine closed last year, reopening in February before being shut again in August. Lithium prices have reacted sharply each time given the mine’s importance to global supply.
(Editing by Mark Potter)
Arkansas aims to become US lithium hub, overcoming Chinese competition, tech challenges
Arkansas faces stiff Chinese competition, sagging market prices and technological challenges as it vies to become the hub for US lithium production, obstacles that state officials and industry executives said this week are surmountable.
The southern state, the birthplace of former US President Bill Clinton, sits atop the Smackover, an underground geological formation stretching from Florida to Texas filled with salty brines containing more than 5 million metric tons of lithium, according to the US Geological Survey.
That is enough lithium to make millions of electric vehicle batteries and other devices if the metal can be filtered using direct lithium extraction (DLE), something that has never before been done at commercial scale.
Lithium prices plunging
Beyond technical challenges, Arkansas must contend with a lithium price drop of more than 80% in the past 18 months, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a fall fueled by oversupply from Chinese rivals.
“What we’re all trying to do is make Arkansas as competitive as it possibly can be,” Patrick Howarth, who runs Exxon Mobil’s lithium business, told the Arkansas Lithium Innovation Summit in Little Rock.
Exxon, which has delayed by at least a year its lithium production plans to 2028, Standard Lithium and Chevron are among the companies rushing to prove DLE can work in Arkansas despite low prices.
Arkansas is betting its workforce’s industrial expertise, electricity rates among the lowest in the US and a permissive regulatory scheme will help it become the country’s lithium hub. The only US lithium mine is in Nevada, operated by Albemarle.
“We spend a lot of time persuading people outside of Arkansas that this opportunity is real, that it can be low cost in terms of production, that it can become a credible supply of lithium chemicals for North America for decades to come,” said Andy Robinson, president of Standard Lithium, which is developing an Arkansas DLE project with Equinor.
Governor sees DLE succeeding
Roughly 860 people attended the summit, an increase of 15% from a similar event held last year.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in an interview she is confident DLE can succeed.
“Big companies like that don’t put hundreds of millions of dollars into things if they don’t feel like they see a path forward,” said Sanders, who was press secretary for President Donald Trump during his first term and elected as governor in 2022.
The governor said she does not believe the state’s lithium industry needs government to guarantee a minimum price for its product – something Trump officials have discussed for critical minerals.
Sanders added she does not think it is a disconnect that she wants Arkansas to be a major lithium producer but does not own an EV.
“I don’t own rockets, but it’s still something we’re really good at manufacturing,” Sanders said, referring to the state’s rocket industry.
“I don’t think you have to own a product to be able to make it in your state, to be able to sell it and to create an environment where those businesses can really do well.”
(By Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Rod Nickel)
Imerys in talks to sell minority stake in lithium mine project
Imerys is in exclusive talks with a potential investor to sell a minority stake in its lithium mine project in central France, with the specialist minerals firm confident it can conclude a deal by the end of January, its finance chief said on Thursday.
Presenting Imerys’ third-quarter results, chief financial officer Sebastien Rouge declined to give any details on the potential investor. Imerys said in July it would seek a partner for the project, whose cost has risen to an estimated 1.8 billion euros ($2.10 billion) from 1 billion initially.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(By Gus Trompiz; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
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