On December 23rd, at the construction site of Sichuan Guocheng Lithium's annual 200,000-tonne lithium salt project located in the Deyang-Aba Ecological Economic Industrial Park (Mianzhu New Materials Chemical Park), hundreds of workers were busily engaged in equipment hoisting, pipeline welding, and structural construction, showcasing a scene of intense activity.
It is reported that the main structure of the project's first phase is now 90% complete, with over half of the process equipment installation finished. Overall construction is progressing faster than expected. Currently, 99% of the main structural foundation work is complete, and core equipment has been fully delivered to the site, laying a solid foundation for completion in February next year and trial production in April.
With a total investment of Yuan 10.5 billion, the project is planned to produce 200,000 tonnes of basic lithium salt annually, and the construction will be carried out in three phases:.
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The first phase, with an investment of Yuan 2.038 billion, will establish an annual production line for 60,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate.
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The second phase, set to begin in early 2027 and enter trial production in July 2028, will focus on building production lines for 60,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate and 30,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide.
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The third phase, aiming to produce 50,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate, lithium oxide, or lithium metal, is expected to start in early 2029 and commence trial production in early 2030.
Upon full completion and reaching designed capacity, the project will become China's largest single-site lithium salt production base. It will support the production of 800,000 tonnes of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode materials annually and 320 GWh of LFP batteries, meeting the battery demand for over 5.5 million EVs. This initiative will contribute significantly to building a national strategic supply base for new energy materials.
Edited by Cassie Li, lixiangying@mysteel.com
