On July 7, the China Credit website announced that Yichun Era New Energy Mining Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of CATL, had obtained a permit for changes to its safety production license for non-coal mining operations.
The Jianxiawo Lithium Mine is the world's largest single lithium mica deposit. Its mining permit expired on August 9, 2025, leading Yichun Era to suspend operations at the site. The deposit holds an estimated 960 million tons of ceramic rock resources, with associated lithium oxide resources of 2,656,800 tons--equivalent to approximately 6.57 million tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE). At full capacity, the mine was originally designed to produce over 100,000tpy of lithium carbonate. Prior to the suspension, its monthly lithium carbonate output averaged 7,000-8,000 tons, accounting for roughly 10% of China's monthly lithium demand.
On June 8, the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Natural Resources announced the cancellation of the mine's original land use pre-approval letter. However, on June 17, a decision notice from the department's Land Spatial Use Control Division confirmed that Yichun Times had re-obtained the Construction Project Land Pre-approval and Site Selection Opinion Letter for the Jianxiawo project, valid until June 17, 2029.
