Wellbiotech Ships First Batch of Lithium from Wongwang... "Expanding High-Value-Added Business"

Wellbiotech is officially starting its lithium business, an essential material for secondary batteries. The first batch of lithium ore mined in Zimbabwe is loaded and set off for China.

On the 31st, Wellbiotech announced that the shipment of the first batch of 2,000 tons of spodumene (lithium ore) from Zimbabwe is proceeding smoothly. The entire first batch will be sent to Shandong Xiboli Lithium Co., Ltd. in China, the largest smelting plant in Asia for preprocessing, to be processed into lithium carbonate.

China is currently the number one country, refining and purifying 60% of the world's lithium. Wellbiotech will refine the lithium ore secured from Zimbabwe in China and supply it domestically. This is to supply lithium carbonate more quickly to the domestic battery industry, which still lacks sufficient refining facilities.

Wellbiotech obtained the world's first official import permit for lithium ore from the Zimbabwean government following Zimbabwe's "Basic Mineral Export Control Act." This grants the right to import up to 20,000 tons per month and 240,000 tons annually of lithium ore for the next year. When processed into lithium carbonate, this amounts to about 16,000 tons annually.

The lithium ore secured by Wellbiotech is a top-grade product with a Li2O (lithium oxide) purity of over 4%. Generally, lithium ore has a purity of 1-2%, and anything above 3% is classified as high quality.

A Wellbiotech official stated, "We will successfully promote the high value-added lithium ore business and further expand the volume of domestic import permits." He added, "We are also conducting various discussions on cost reduction measures with our subsidiary Roadstar C&Air, which is responsible for transportation." He continued, "We will quickly supply high-quality lithium products in consultation with domestic demand sources."

Meanwhile, amid the global competition to secure lithium and the trend toward internalizing the lithium industry, investment in lithium refining facilities is expanding domestically, centered on major cathode material and secondary battery manufacturers. Wellbiotech plans to refine lithium domestically once domestic lithium refining facilities are established after the second half of the year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.