China investors to fund Australian lithium project
Associated Press, 09.04.09, 01:09 AM EDT
forbes.com
SHANGHAI -- Australian startup Galaxy Resources Ltd. has sold a 19.9 percent stake to a Chinese investment company as part of a financing agreement for mining and processing of lithium, a metal used in electric vehicle batteries.
The 159 million Australian dollar ($133 million) funding agreement includes the equity purchase in Galaxy, worth AU$29 million ($24 million), and AU$130 million of debt financing, Galaxy said in a statement issued Friday.
It will fund mining and processing in Ravensthorpe, Western Australia, and construction of a lithium carbonate chemical factory in Zhangjiagang, near Shanghai, it said.
China has been actively seeking to boost its access to strategically important minerals and energy resources. Lithium ion batteries are used in cell phones, laptops and other electronics and are increasingly used to power electric vehicles.
The funding agreement between Galaxy and Creat was signed Thursday in Beijing, Galaxy said.
Creat Group, based in Beijing, is a private investment company with interests in mining, agriculture, electronics, pharmaceuticals, food, real estate and finance.
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Galaxy, an industrial minerals company focusing on production of lithium and tantalum, said it plans to begin developing its Mt. Cattlin project soon.
Tantalum is an ore used to store electricity in capacitors in iPods, among other things.
Plans call for Galaxy to sell 40 percent of its lithium output in China, with the rest to be exported to other key markets such as Japan and South Korea, the state-run newspaper China Daily reported.
The lithium carbonate processing plant near Shanghai initially would have an annual capacity of 17,000 tons; China's current demand for the metal stands at 110,000 tons a year and is forecast to triple by 2020. |
