en.Wedoany.com Reported - CATL's Jianxiawo lithium mine project in China has regained a key approval, marking a new step toward resuming production. The project, which has drawn significant market attention, recently saw Yichun Times New Energy Mining Co., Ltd. re-obtain the "Pre-Approval Letter for Construction Project Land Use and Site Selection" for the Jianxiawo lithium mine, valid from June 17, 2026, to June 17, 2029. Shortly before this, the project's original land pre-approval document was revoked. The re-issuance of this approval is widely seen by the market as a key signal that the project is back on track. Land pre-approval is a crucial preliminary step in mine construction and development. Previously, the market generally expected that restarting the land approval process could take a considerable amount of time, but the progress of these procedures has been faster than anticipated. However, industry insiders point out that land pre-approval is only one of the conditions required for resuming production. Subsequent steps, including changes to mining rights, environmental impact assessments, and safety permits, still need to be completed. If these procedures proceed smoothly, the project could potentially resume production as early as the fourth quarter of this year.

The Jianxiawo lithium mine is considered by the industry to be one of the world's largest lepidolite mine projects. In April 2022, CATL won the exploration rights for the mine for 865 million yuan, and obtained the mining rights in August of the same year. Public data shows that the mining area contains an estimated 960 million tons of ceramic stone resources, with associated lithium oxide resources of approximately 2.6568 million tons, equivalent to about 6.57 million tons of lithium carbonate, placing its resource scale among the top in the industry. However, beyond resource endowment advantages, the issue of ore grade has always been a significant challenge for the project. Public data indicates that the average lithium oxide grade in the mining area is about 0.27%. As lithium resource management systems continue to improve and lithium mine development becomes more standardized, the previous model of developing and utilizing the resource under the guise of "ceramic clay (containing lithium)" has struggled to meet new regulatory requirements. Consequently, the project needs to undergo a series of tasks, including changes to mining rights. The re-approval of the land pre-approval document is seen as a critical milestone for the project's resumption. In terms of timing, this approval came just over a week after the original document was revoked, with the approval process progressing significantly faster than the market had previously expected. However, the ultimate resumption of production still depends on the successful completion of all subsequent approval procedures. As a global leader in power batteries, CATL reported first-quarter revenue of 129.1 billion yuan this year, a year-on-year increase of 52%; net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company reached 20.7 billion yuan, up 48.5% year-on-year. Market institutions estimate that before the Jianxiawo mine suspended production, its monthly lithium carbonate output was approximately 7,000 to 8,000 tons, holding a significant position in China's lithium salt supply system. The timeline for the project's production resumption is therefore closely watched by the industry chain. On June 17, the average spot price of battery-grade lithium carbonate was around 170,000 yuan per ton. After years of rapid expansion, Yichun's lithium industry is gradually transitioning from a phase of extensive growth to standardized development. The progress of subsequent approvals and production resumption at the Jianxiawo lithium mine will not only impact CATL's upstream resource layout but also serve as an important case study for observing the compliance transformation of China's lithium mine development.