Chinese iron ore miner Hainan Mining said it will be investing US$164 million in a plant that will produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide as electric vehicle demand rises.

In a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange dated 23 August, the company said the facility in Dongfang, Hainan province, in southern China will produce about 20,000 tonnes per year of the material.

“Hainan province is closer to Australia, the main source of spodumene raw material for the project," Hainan Mining said. 

The plant’s location on the Chinese island also “has obvious maritime logistics advantages compared to Jiangxi and Sichuan, the main producers of lithium hydroxide in the mainland,” it added.

Construction will take about 18 months, but the company did not indicate when work could begin.

Source: Reuters