CATL Invests with China Moly in Copper-Cobalt Project

China Moly Co Ltd issued an announcement that its wholly-owned subsidiary Luoyang Molybdenum Holdings and CATL indirect holding company Bangpu Times reached an agreement to build a world-class copper-cobalt project.

Bangpu Times Through its wholly-owned subsidiary in Hongkong., it will acquire 25% of the shares of KFM Holdings from China Molybdenum Holdings for US$137.5 million. The latter holds 95% of the Congo Kisanfu copper-cobalt mine project. At the same time, the two parties will also continue to deepen cooperation in product underwriting and new energy metals.

Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Hongkong Brunp and CATL Co., Limited, Bangpu Times acquired the wholly-owned subsidiary of China Molybdenum Holdings Hong Kong KFM Holdings Co., Ltd. for a total consideration of US$137.5 million.

After the completion of the transaction, China Moly Holdings and Bangpu Times will hold 75% and 25% of the shares in KFM Holdings, respectively. KFM Holdings holds a 95% interest in the Kisanfu copper-cobalt project in Congo.

The two parties will bear the capital expenditure of the project in proportion to their shareholding in KFM Holdings, jointly invest in the development of the Kisanfu project, and build it into a world-class large-scale copper and cobalt producer.

China Molybdenum Luoyang and CATL agreed that they will urge each other's subsidiaries to strengthen in-depth cooperation in the development of nickel ore resources and nickel metal smelting and processing in Indonesia as well as other countries. They have established a comprehensive strategic partnership in the field of new energy metal resources, giving full play to their respective advantages in development of new energy metal resources such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper.

Industry insiders told the media that the intention of the CATL is also overt, which is to lay out the upstream cobalt resources. Since Tesla proposed a ‘cobalt-free’ battery last year, this direction has been recognized as a development route for many battery manufacturers. As the cobalt sulfate is expensive, which is the most crucial part of the cost of cathode materials.

Wind data shows that at the beginning of April this year, the price of cobalt sulfate was about 77,500 yuan/ton. Our country's cobalt resources are scarce and rely heavily on imports. According to data quoted by China Moly Luoyang from the U.S. Geological Survey, as of the end of 2020, the global cobalt mineral resource reserves (metal content) are approximately 7.1 million tons. Congo and Australia own approximately 51% and 20% of the world's cobalt resources respectively.

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