At the end of the year, the lithium industry resource layout craze has reignited.
Recently, Qinghai Yanhu Industry and Chengxin Lithium, two major lithium companies, both announced acquisition plans. The former intends to acquire 51% equity of Minmetals Salt Lake from its controlling shareholder at a premium of 46.05 billion yuan, representing a 352.42% premium, while Chengxin Lithium plans to acquire the remaining 30% equity of Qicheng Mining for 2.08 billion yuan to achieve full control over the latter.
Observers have noted that this is just a microcosm of lithium companies hoarding resources. In the past six months, at least five listed companies have been laying out lithium resources globally, covering all categories of resources including overseas spodumene, salt lakes, and domestic hard rock lithium mines. Moreover, it is not just lithium resources; many other mining companies are also intensively hoarding minerals, including but not limited to gold mines, silver mines, iron mines, and phosphate mines.
As the hoarding of minerals heats up, lithium prices are rebounding. Since Q3 of last year, both lithium carbonate futures and spot prices have doubled.
Industry insiders have indicated that the certain explosive growth in demand not only drives lithium prices upward but also enhances the value of mining rights. For lithium companies engaged in transparent cost competition, premium layouts at the mining end are both a necessity and urgent.
<h2>Premium Hoarding Heats Up</h2>
In the mining sector, resources are king. Regardless of cyclical changes, resource mergers and acquisitions occur frequently. However, the recent layout of lithium resources has clearly heated up, with many acquisitions being made at a premium. Observers have found that recently, several listed companies, including Ganfeng Lithium and Hualian Holdings, have increased their investments in lithium mines.
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Taking Qinghai Yanhu Industry as an example, the 51% equity of Minmetals Salt Lake is priced at 46.05 billion yuan, corresponding to a 352.42% appreciation rate of the target shareholder's total equity. The core asset of the target is the mining rights and lithium salt production capacity of the Yiliping Salt Lake in Qinghai. The Yiliping Salt Lake mining area covers 422.73 square kilometers and is a large comprehensive salt lake deposit primarily composed of liquid lithium ore, with beneficial components such as boron, potassium, and magnesium co-existing; the lithium chloride resource is 1.6459 million tons, and the potassium chloride resource is 14.6311 million tons. Currently, it has established lithium carbonate production capacity of 15,000 tons/year, lithium phosphate production capacity of 200 tons/year, lithium hydroxide production capacity of 100 tons/year, and potassium fertilizer production capacity of 300,000 tons/year.
It is worth mentioning that this transaction is also aimed at resolving the issue of industry competition after China Minmetals took control, and the high premium corresponds to high performance commitments. China Salt Lake, as the transferor of this transaction, has committed that from 2026 to 2028, Minmetals Salt Lake will achieve net profits of no less than 668 million yuan, 692 million yuan, and 745 million yuan.
Chengxin Lithium's operation is an &#34;increased position.&#34; In September 2025, the company had already acquired 21% equity of Qicheng Mining, and this time it is acquiring the remaining 30% equity to achieve 100% control, effectively locking in core lithium resource assets such as the Yajiang Murong lithium mine in Sichuan, with the target shareholder's equity appreciation rate also reaching 388.77%
According to the announcement, Qicheng Mining holds a 70.97% stake in Huirong Mining, which has a total valuation of up to 9.039 billion yuan, with the value of the Muro lithium mine accounting for 8.434 billion yuan. The Muro lithium mine has confirmed Li2O resources of 989,600 tons, with an average grade of 1.62%, making it one of the highest-grade lithium mines in the Sichuan region.
However, compared to the existing production capacity, profitability, and performance commitments of China Minmetals Salt Lake, Qicheng Mining's high premium risk is relatively high. The production scale of the Muro lithium mine is 3 million tons per year, and it is currently actively promoting the development and construction of the mine. In addition, Huirong Mining's wholly-owned subsidiary holds a mining right for the Guanyinqiao spodumene mine, with a production scale of 45,000 tons per year. However, this mining right expired in 2019, and the company stated that &#34;it is in the process of applying for an extension of the mining right.&#34;
This means that Qicheng Mining currently has zero revenue, and it is unclear when the Muro lithium mine will commence production and contribute to performance.
In addition, the real estate company Hualian Holdings is a typical example of cross-industry transformation. In December last year, the company announced that while maintaining its existing real estate business, it plans to invest 1.235 billion yuan to acquire 100% of the shares of Argentum Lithium S.A. held by Lithium Chile Inc. and Steve William Cochrane, thereby obtaining an 80% stake in the Arizaro project and entering the lithium extraction business from salt lakes. The target company has rights to three projects located in the Arizaro salt lake area of Salta Province, Argentina, including six mining rights, covering a total area of approximately 205 square kilometers.
<h2>Reconstruction of Mining Rights Value</h2>
&#34;The company hopes to secure quality resources while lithium prices are relatively low.&#34; As Chengxin Lithium stated, the purpose of stockpiling minerals is primarily to effectively reduce the risk of fluctuations in raw material costs.
Zheng Xiaoqiang, a lithium analyst at Shanghai Steel Union's New Energy Division, told the Observer that the core logic of this round of mineral stockpiling is the explosive growth in demand driving lithium prices upward, and the market's attention to lithium resources is increasing. &#34;Currently, China's lithium salt smelting capacity is relatively abundant, but the self-sufficiency rate of upstream lithium mineral resources is still relatively low. In the face of the certainty of future demand growth and the instability of overseas policies, the urgency for resources is becoming greater.&#34;
China is the world's largest producer of lithium salts, with lithium salt production capacity exceeding 1.2 million tons LCE in 2024, accounting for more than 65% of global output; in the first three quarters of 2025, China's lithium salt production reached 854,000 tons LCE, a year-on-year increase of 13.1%, accounting for more than 70% of global total production. Tianqi Lithium's chairman, Jiang Anqi, even predicted at the second China International Lithium Industry Conference that &#34;benefiting from the demand for renewable energy grid connection and the rapid growth of electrified equipment such as commercial heavy trucks, the demand for basic lithium materials in the energy storage field and power batteries will continue to rise, and global lithium demand is expected to reach 2 million tons of lithium carbonate equivalent by 2026.&#34;
However, the self-sufficiency rate at the mining end remains very low. According to data from the Lithium Branch of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, about 60% of the raw materials for Chinese lithium salt companies will rely on imports from overseas regions such as Australia and South America in 2024. Customs data shows that in November 2025, China imported 22,055 tons of lithium carbonate, of which 10,800 tons were imported from Chile, accounting for 49% of the total imports
Imported lithium carbonate from Argentina amounted to 8,043 tons, accounting for 36% of the total imports.
However, recent policy adjustments in Nigeria's lithium mining sector, the severe and complex security situation in Mali, and the turbulent situation in Venezuela have led to ongoing supply disruptions. Against this backdrop, lithium salt companies represented by Chengxin Lithium urgently need more high-quality resources to ensure stable raw material supply.
Taking Chengxin Lithium as an example, if the Muroong lithium mine with an annual capacity of 3 million tons is put into production, the capacity will be equivalent to about 75,000 tons of lithium carbonate. The company's lithium salt production capacity for 2024 is 137,000 tons, meaning that this mine alone could provide the company with a resource self-sufficiency rate of 50%.
&#34;The essence of premium mining rights acquisition is the revaluation of mining rights after lithium prices rise.&#34; A person from a lithium salt company in the western region told the observer that after hitting bottom in mid-2025, the lithium salt sales side has continued to recover, especially after Q3, with explosive growth in energy storage demand, rapid inventory digestion, and continuous rise in lithium prices, naturally leading to an increase in the value of mining rights.
Data shows that the main contract for lithium carbonate futures has been on the rise since October 2025, with a strong start in 2026, rising for three consecutive days. For example, the closing price of lithium carbonate 2601 on January 7 was 139,960 yuan/ton, an increase of 139.2% compared to the low of 58,520 yuan/ton on June 23, 2025. Spot lithium salt prices have also risen in tandem; according to Shanghai Steel Union data, on January 6, the average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate was reported at 132,250 yuan/ton, doubling from the low of 60,000 yuan/ton in mid-last year.
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(Lithium carbonate 2601 daily K-line chart)
Taking the example of China Minmetals Salt Lake, its mining rights were obtained in 2013 when the market price of lithium carbonate was around 40,000 yuan/ton, corresponding to a book value of only 377 million yuan for the mining rights. Currently, the average market price of battery-grade lithium carbonate has exceeded 130,000 yuan/ton, thus increasing the value of its mining rights. Coupled with technological upgrades that boost mine output and significantly extend the service life of the mine compared to the planned lifespan at the time of acquisition, China Minmetals Salt Lake's assessed value increase rate is 352.42%.
In fact, when the United States advanced Monroe Doctrine in Venezuela under the guise of drug prohibition to seize the country's oil resources, the pricing power of global commodities and even the order of the global supply chain system will inevitably be restructured. Against this backdrop, to ensure energy security, China has expanded its layout of key mineral resources to multiple types, with lithium resources being just one example. For instance, Luoyang Molybdenum acquired a Brazilian gold mine for $1.015 billion, increasing annual gold production by 8 tons; Yuntianhua secured 2.438 billion tons of phosphate rock to ensure phosphate fertilizer raw materials; Zhejiang Mining Co., Ltd. acquired a lead-silver mine in Kazakhstan for 406 million yuan... The essence is to lock in resources in advance to address future supply-demand gaps
<h2>Annual Supply and Demand Turning Point May Appear Earlier</h2>
Of course, from a micro perspective, the industry's prosperity is generally proportional to the willingness of companies to engage in mergers and acquisitions and capital expenditures. Whether the recent mineral hoarding trend can continue depends, to some extent, on the future trend of lithium prices.
&#34;With stable demand growth, it is expected that lithium prices will maintain a fluctuating upward trend in 2026,&#34; said Zheng Xiaoqiang. Although supply is also expanding simultaneously, the overall lithium carbonate inventory in the entire industry chain continues to decrease. In the short term, it will be affected by the off-season demand from the power sector, but as battery production capacity gradually comes online, energy storage orders can offset some of the off-season impacts in the power sector against the backdrop of high growth in 2026.
As mentioned, recently, several leading material manufacturers have concentrated on maintenance, which will lead to weakened demand in January and increased certainty of inventory accumulation, bringing short-term bearish effects. However, CITIC Futures believes that under the background of strong capital sentiment and optimistic long-term outlook, prices are expected to remain strong and fluctuate.
Data shows that from January to October 2025, the awarded capacity for energy storage reached 148GWh, a year-on-year increase of 39%, with the total energy storage cell shipment expected to reach 580GWh for the year. GGII predicts that in 2026, it is expected to further break through 850GWh, with a growth rate exceeding 35%; the shipment of power batteries (including lithium batteries for passenger and commercial vehicles) will exceed 1.3TWh, with a growth rate exceeding 20%, and the absolute increment in the energy storage market is expected to surpass that of power batteries for the first time.
Zhejiang Merchants Securities mentioned in its research report that the demand for lithium carbonate from energy storage will reach 345,000 tons in 2025, and is expected to exceed 500,000 tons in 2026, a tenfold increase compared to the 50,000 tons demand in 2021.
&#34;From the perspective of supply and demand, the supply and demand of lithium carbonate continues to be tight. The resumption of production at a certain mica mine in Jiangxi is delayed, and the policy for lithium mines in Nigeria is expected to be adjusted, while the situation in Venezuela remains unstable, leading to ongoing concerns about supply disruptions.&#34; CITIC Futures pointed out that in the short to medium term, concerns about supply disruptions persist, and new energy metals may maintain a fluctuating strong trend; in the long term, lithium mining capacity is still on the rise, but demand expectations are also continuously increasing, and the expected surplus in supply and demand is narrowing. The long-term supply and demand trend of lithium carbonate needs to be re-evaluated, and the annual supply and demand turning point may appear earlier.
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The lithium industry resource layout craze has reignited, with Qinghai Yanhu Industry and Chengxin Lithium announcing merger and acquisition deals. The former is acquiring a 51% stake in Minmetals Salt Lake for 4.605 billion yuan at a premium of 352.42%, while the latter is purchasing the remaining 30% stake in Qicheng Mining for 2.08 billion yuan. Lithium prices have doubled since Q3 of last year, and the increase in demand has driven up the value of mining rights, making it a trend for lithium companies to hoard resources at a premium. Several listed companies are ramping up investments in lithium mines, and resource mergers and acquisitions are frequent, with Qinghai Yanhu Industry's transaction also addressing the issue of competition within the industry

Lithium prices have doubled, and lithium companies are hoarding mines at a premium