Chinese electric car maker BYD acquired the mineral rights on two lands in Brazil’s lithium-rich region in 2023, and mining operations in the largest market outside China, according to public records reviewed by Reuters. I’ve entered the
Acquiring mineral rights for EV producers in Brazil is so far the most concrete step in mining strategic minerals in the Western Hemisphere.
The previously unreported acquisition of mineral rights in late 2023 was made by BYD subsidiary Exploracao Mineral Do Brasil, created in May of that year, documents showed.
The plot is a half-day drive from BYD’s new factory project in northeastern Brazil, and we also agreed to invest in 2023. They are also a nearby plot owned by Atlas Lithium, a listed US miner.
The subsidiary was created with 4 million Reais ($695,000) share capital and changed Reais’ profits of approximately 213,000 from the 2023 exchange rate fluctuations, the public registration document showed.
A report from the October shareholders meeting, seen by Reuters, said, “The financial movement and operating revenue are in the research phase, not in the operating phase.”
BYD declined to comment on the issue.
BYD, which acquired shares in China’s leading miners, was one of six companies allowed to bid on the Chilean lithium project last year, outlining plans for its lithium cathode plant in northern Chile.
Recent visits by our delegates of Saudi Arabia and China highlight global interest in Brazil as an open market for geopolitical competition for access to strategic minerals.
Unlike its South American neighbours, Brazil avoided the presence of a fierce state in the lithium sector and eased its metal export controls in 2022.
Its best lithium outlook is hard rock deposits that help traditional mining, unlike tricky lithium extraction from salt flats in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.
BYD’s Brazilian lithium exploration augments the scale of bets on Latin America’s largest economy. There, the company’s major investment in the previous Ford factory complex discolored in December after accusations of workplace labor abuse.
Last year, the Financial Times reported that BYD had discussed supply agreements, joint ventures or acquisitions with Sigma Lithium, Brazil’s largest lithium producer.
Lithium Valley
BYD’s mineral rights cover 852 hectares (8.5 square km) of the town of Coroner Murta, part of the jequitinhonha valley in Minas Gerais, known as the lithium valley in Brazil.
The adjacent Atlas Lithium project in Coronel Murta is in the research phase after the first geological mapping of the region, the company said on its website in June.
Atlas CEO Marc Fogassa said he learned about BYD through a third party but never directly discussed it with the automaker.
“If they invest in these two areas, that’s because they see the possibilities and this clearly makes my territory more valuable,” Fogassa told Reuters.
Coronel Murta is approximately 825 km (512 miles) away from the coastal complex in Bahia, where BYD develops a factory with the capacity to manufacture 150,000 electric vehicles per year, and is a 12-hour drive. is.
Since acquiring mineral rights, BYD has hired local mineral research company Minagem Geologia e Mineracao, a public document shows.
Minagem said they must seek permission from the BYD subsidiary to talk about the issue.
According to Luiz Fernando Visconti, lawyer at Visconti Law, a law firm specializing in the mining sector, if a Brazilian mining project is deemed economically viable, production will begin for eight to 15 years. It often happens.
($1 = 5.7568 reais)
(Edited by Fabio Teixeira and Luciana Novaes Magalhaes, Brad Haynes and Marguerita Choy)
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