On the evening of August 18, Tibet Everest issued several announcements, all related to the lithium extraction construction project of Argentina Lithium Potassium Co., Ltd. with an annual output of 50,000 tons of lithium carbonate. At the same time as the contract was terminated,

Every reporter: Fan Qianqian Every editor: Liang, Xiao

The 4.5 billion Argentinian salt lake lithium extraction project on Mount Everest in Tibet has changed its partners.

html On the evening of August 18, Tibet Everest (SH600338, stock price 31.59 yuan, market value 28.88 billion yuan) issued several announcements, all related to Argentina Lithium Potassium Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as lithium potassium) with an annual output of 50,000 tons of lithium carbonate salt lake to extract lithium Related to the construction project, a new cooperation framework agreement was quickly signed at the same time as the contract was terminated.

Picture According to the official website of the listed company

To put it simply, in the above-mentioned projects, Zhejiang Songdu Lithium Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Songdu Lithium Industry) was out, and Zhezhong Shares (SZ002346, stock price 18.57 yuan, market value 8.2 billion yuan) entered the game , TusQingyuan (Shanghai) New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as TusQingyuan) will still participate.

reporter noticed that the above-mentioned project is mainly to develop the Angeles lithium salt lake in Salta Province, Argentina. This is also a major salt lake development project currently being vigorously carried out on Mount Everest in Tibet. So what is the quality of the project on Mount Everest in Tibet? ? How is the progress so far? Is the new partner reliable?

The new partner has industrial investment experience

As the price of lithium salt continues to rise, the salt lake lithium extraction project has become the focus of the current new energy industry and the capital market. However, the salt lake lithium extraction project has factors such as high investment amount, long construction period, and numerous partners involved, which makes it difficult for the project to go smoothly from development and construction to production and delivery.

The salt lake lithium extraction project on Mount Everest in Tibet has encountered difficulties recently, that is, the equipment supplier has been delayed in delivering goods as scheduled. To this end, Tibet Everest has launched an emergency plan and recently terminated the contract while quickly signing a new cooperation framework agreement.

This transaction will start in March this year. On March 11 this year, Tibet Everest, TusQingyuan and Songdu Lithium signed the "Argentina Lithium Potassium Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd.'s annual output of 50,000 tons of lithium carbonate salt lake lithium extraction construction project equipment, operations, and technical service cooperation agreement" and the "Argentina Lithium Potash Co., Ltd. Equipment supply agreement for the 25,000-ton adsorption section and 50,000-ton membrane section of the salt lake lithium extraction construction project of Lithium Potassium Co., Ltd. with an annual output of 50,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent.

According to the agreement, all equipment and adsorbents will be shipped in three phases. The first batch of equipment will be delivered within 120 days from the date of signing the contract. That is to say, TusQingyuan and Songdu Lithium originally needed to complete the delivery of the first batch of equipment before July 11.

But the time has come to mid-to-late August. Due to the failure to deliver the goods as scheduled, Tibet Everest also sent letters to the two companies urging them to make corrections. TusQingyuan responded with a letter of extension to partially fulfill its supply obligations, and Songdu Lithium responded with a letter. Confirm that the contract has not been fulfilled and there is no sincerity to rectify the performance.

html On August 18, Tibet Everest unilaterally terminated the cooperation agreements signed with TusQingyuan and Songdu Lithium Industry. On the same day, Tibet Everest signed a new cooperation framework agreement with Zhezhong Co., Ltd. and TusQingyuan for the above-mentioned projects. Zhezhong Co., Ltd. will be responsible for making the first investment in manufacturing or purchasing the equipment and facilities required for the project, and TusQingyuan will be responsible for executing the equipment, technical services, and licensing. Operations and entrusted operations.

In fact, as early as March, the relevant cooperation had caused controversy. The main reason was that Songdu Lithium Industry was a subsidiary of the real estate company Songdu Shares (SH600077, stock price 3.78 yuan, market value 5.066 billion yuan). This was a cross-border At the same time, Songdu Lithium Industry needs to provide financial support of 1.6 billion yuan, and regulators have also made many inquiries about this transaction. With the exit of Songdu Lithium Industry, Songdu shares fell to the limit on August 19.

The new partner of Tibet Everest, Zhezhong Co., Ltd. is also a cross-border player. Its main business is the manufacturing and sales of power distribution equipment. However, Zhezhong shares have a lot of experience in investing in lithium batteries, new energy and other fields. According to the annual report of Zhezhong Co., Ltd. disclosed last year, the company is involved in power generation, lithium battery and other industries through direct equity investment, and covers new energy, new energy vehicles and other fields by participating in the private equity fund investment project.

However, according to Songdu Co., Ltd., it stated in an announcement on the morning of August 19 that as of the date of receipt of the "Letter of Termination", the company had made various preparations for the cooperation, but due to the Feng unilaterally announced the termination of the cooperation agreement. The company will contact Tibet Everest to verify the specific reasons for this situation.At the same time, Songdu Shares also mentioned that TusQingyuan unilaterally violated the consortium agreement and signed a cooperation agreement with a third party on the same project without notifying the company or terminating the original contract with the company. The company will also The situation further contacted TusQingyuan to verify the reasons for its violation of the consortium agreement.

The first batch of Lanxiao Technology equipment has been shipped

For Tibet Everest, the Argentina Lithium Potassium Co., Ltd.'s annual output of 50,000 tons of lithium carbonate salt lake lithium extraction construction project is a salt lake development project currently being vigorously developed by Tibet Everest, mainly Development of the Angeles Lithium Salt Lake in Salta Province.

According to Tibet Everest’s annual report last year, Tibet Everest currently has two salt lake development projects in Salta Province. One of the projects is the Arizaro Salt Lake that has not yet been explored, and the other is the Angeles Salt Lake Lithium Mine Project. , it is the only development project with a complete independent salt lake among the Argentina salt lake lithium mine projects, and it is also one of the salt lakes with the largest water supply in Argentina.

In order to ensure the smooth progress of the project, Tibet Everest also released a non-public issuance plan in September last year. The Argentina Lithium Potassium Co., Ltd.'s annual output of 50,000 tons of lithium carbonate salt lake lithium extraction construction project was among them. According to the adjusted plan in January this year, the total investment amount of the project is 4.5 billion yuan, the planned investment amount of raised funds is 3.85 billion yuan, the project construction period is 12 months, and the operating income after the project reaches production is expected to be 4.52 billion yuan/year.

reporters noticed that the time for trial production of the project plan is approaching. According to Tibet Everest's annual report last year, the project is expected to enter trial production before the end of 2022 and achieve design production capacity in the first half of 2023. If progress goes well, it is expected to produce 30,000 to 40,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent lithium salt products throughout 2023. This means that there are less than five months left before the planned trial production time, but the partners have not even been able to deliver the first batch of equipment.

However, the good news is that the reporter noticed that according to the content disclosed in the Tibet Everest announcement yesterday, TusQingyuan responded to the company that it would ensure the realization of a 10,000 tons/year lithium carbonate-scale brine lithium membrane section in September this year. The equipment is ready for delivery; provided that the cooperation funds are received in time, it is guaranteed that all the equipment under the agreement will be ready for commissioning and production in the first quarter of next year.

In addition to TusQingyuan, there is another equipment supplier for the above-mentioned salt lake lithium extraction project on Mount Everest in Tibet, namely Lanxiao Technology (SZ300487, stock price 87 yuan, market value 28.669 billion yuan).

The equipment supply contract between the two parties was signed on March 3 this year. Lanxiao Technology mainly provides the remaining 25,000 tons/year lithium carbonate-scale brine lithium extraction project adsorption section equipment for Mount Everest in Tibet. According to the contract, the shipment of 10,000 tons of lithium carbonate-scale brine lithium extraction adsorption equipment will be completed before May 31; the delivery of 15,000 tons of lithium carbonate-scale brine lithium extraction adsorption equipment and the 10,000-ton lithium carbonate scale brine lithium extraction adsorption equipment will be completed before July 31 Shipment of adsorbents; complete the shipment of 15,000 tons of lithium carbonate-scale brine lithium extraction adsorbents before September 30; the filling completion time is December 20; the end time of all performance assessments is February 20, 2023.

reporter noticed that not long ago, Lanxiao Technology completed the shipment of Phase I equipment. The official Weibo of Lanxiao Technology released a short video on August 14 stating that the Lanxiao Technology-Tibet Everest 25,000-ton lithium carbonate project phase I equipment was successfully shipped. The video content also mentioned that according to the contract, the production, manufacturing and delivery of adsorbents and equipment will be completed by the end of 2022.

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