Next Investors logo grey

Lithium mine sells for 600x starting auction price

Published 24-MAY-2022 11:25 A.M.

|

2 min read

Macro: Lithium


The following Bloomberg article highlights investor appetite for investment opportunities in the lithium sector.

Bloomberg Lithium.PNG

Read the full article here.

Below are our key takeaways from the Bloomberg article:

  • An auction for a controlling stake in a Chinese lithium mine has garnered 3,448 bids, underscoring the scramble to secure the battery metal that’s key to the clean-energy transition.
  • The auction was for a 54.3% stake in the owner of a company that owns the Dechenonba lithium mine which has estimated reserves of 24.9mt with a planned production capacity of 1mt per annum (in a southwestern province of China).
  • The auction ended at US$299M - 600x higher than where the auction initially started.
  • The shift to electric vehicles has spurred a global rush for lithium and seen Chinese prices of lithium carbonate surge more than 400% over the past year.

The lithium bull market which is now 2 years old definitely doesn't seem to be running out of any steam.

We think that the structural demand coming over the next decade will mean that the demand for new lithium supplies will only become worse UNLESS we see massive capital investment into developing new lithium mines.

We hold investments from the exploration stage all the way up to development ready projects in the lithium space, below is a list of our portfolio companies:

Vulcan Energy Resources (ASX:VUL) - Next Investors Portfolio

  • Zero Carbon Lithium development stage, Germany (European Union)

European Metals Holdings (ASX:EMH) - Wise Owl Portfolio

  • Lithium, development stage, Czech Republic (European Union)

Latin Resources (ASX:LRS) - Catalyst Hunter Portfolio

  • Lithium, exploration stage, Brazil

Ragusa Minerals (ASX:RAS) - Catalyst Hunter Portfolio

  • Lithium, exploration stage, Northern Territory