CATL's Jianxiawo Lithium Mine Restarts Environmental Impact Assessment Approval Process

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 18, Yichun Times New Energy Mining Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of CATL, restarted the environmental impact assessment (EIA) approval process for the mining project at the Jianxiawo lithium mine in Zunkouli, Yifeng County — Fengxin County, Jiangxi Province, and conducted pre-approval information disclosure of the draft environmental impact report and public participation statement. This disclosure marks a renewed advancement of the approval milestone after the original proposed acceptance disclosure was revoked in August.

The Jianxiawo lithium mine had previously suspended production after its original mining license expired on August 9, 2025. In November 2025, Yichun Times obtained a new mining license valid until November 27, 2047, with the mined minerals adjusted to lithium ore, ceramic clay, rubidium, and cesium, covering a mining area of approximately 2.5 square kilometers. The new EIA plan corresponds to an open-pit mining scale of 30 million tonnes per year, lower than the previous mining scale of 45 million tonnes per year.

The project EIA had previously completed the draft-for-comment disclosure from July 27 to August 7. On August 17, the Yichun Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau launched the pre-acceptance disclosure, originally planned to last until August 28. On August 26, the Yichun Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau issued a statement saying that due to public questioning of the compliance of the construction unit's earlier disclosure website, the pre-acceptance disclosure was revoked, and it was made clear that a separate disclosure would be made after verification of compliance with requirements.

After the re-disclosure of the draft for approval, the mining project's EIA process has once again advanced toward formal acceptance and approval. The current EIA scope covers only open-pit mining and does not include the supporting ore processing plant and tailings pond. Previously disclosed information shows that the raw ore extracted from the mine will be sent to the Fengxin Times ore processing plant for processing, and the mining project itself does not include ore processing facilities.

According to publicly available EIA materials, the new plan for the Jianxiawo lithium mine has a designed construction period of 1 year and a production period of 17 years, with a total service life of 18 years. The total project investment is approximately 4.354 billion yuan, the designed mining recovery rate for lithium ore is 98%, and the ore processing recovery rate is 65%.

Jianxiawo is a relatively large-scale lepidolite mine in China. Publicly available information shows that the project was previously designed to correspond to a lithium carbonate production capacity of approximately 100,000 tonnes per year at full production, with an average monthly lithium carbonate output of approximately 7,000 to 8,000 tonnes before suspension. The current stage remains the EIA approval filing for the mining project, and subsequent procedures still need to be completed, including formal acceptance, technical review, pre-approval disclosure, and EIA approval.