China’s Ganfeng Lithium will pay $130 million for a stake in a lithium mine in Mali, Africa. In the first phase, it will acquire at least half of the company currently held by Australian mining company Firefinch Ltd.
Ganfeng is one of the largest lithium producers in the world. The purchase of a stake in the Goulamina mine in Mali is its first investment of its kind on the African continent. The investment is in line with the strategy of a company that wants to expand in Africa in view of the expected growth in demand for metal, which is an essential commodity for the production of batteries not only for electric cars.
The Goulamina mine, located about 150 kilometres south of Mali’s capital Bamako, hides one of the highest quality lithium sites in the world. Australian miner Firefinch Ltd, which currently holds a lithium mining licence at the mine, claims to hold less than 110 million tonnes of highly concentrated lithium ore. The production capacity of the mine is estimated at more than 450 thousand tonnes of ore per year.
Ganfeng, a Chinese mining company, participates in several other projects in different countries around the world. In addition to China, especially in Mexico, Australia, Argentina or Ireland. It may increase its share of the Goulamina mine in the coming years depending on the development of the project.
