Shanghai, June 10 (Xinhua Finance): A piece of information regarding Ningde Times' land use procedures for the Jixiwo lithium mine has sparked abnormal movements in the lithium mine market.

On June 9th, the main contract of lithium carbonate closed at 168,460 RMB/ton, up 3.45% on the day, and the related stocks in the lithium mine sector also surged. On June 10th, the main contract continued to rise, with the day's maximum increase reaching 2.36%. Before this, the commodity and equity markets had already experienced a significant correction.

On June 8, the Jiangxi Provincial Natural Resources Department announced the revocation of the "Construction Project Land Use Pre-examination and Location Opinion Book" with the number "Use Word No. 3609002025XS0001571". The announcement shows that the revocation was made according to the application of Yichun Contemporary Times New Energy Mining Co., Ltd., based on the "Administrative Licenses Law of the People's Republic of China" and other relevant regulations, and the said opinion book was revoked according to the law from that day.

Tianyancha shows that Yichun Contemporary Times New Energy Mining Co., Ltd. is an indirect holding subsidiary of Ningde Times, and is the holder of the prospecting rights of the Li mine in Jiayangwu. According to the administrative license information of land use pre-examination and site selection released by the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Natural Resources on December 17, 2025, the project corresponding to the above-mentioned canceled opinion letter is the "Jiangxi Yifeng County Zhenkouli-Fengxin County Jiayangwu lithium mine mining project".

What does this opinion of the resolution mean?

A source from Jiangxi Provincial Department of Natural Resources told reporters that the revocation of the permit was carried out in accordance with normal procedures, and this time it was just an announcement of the situation.

It is understood that the "Construction Project Land Use Pre-examination and Location Opinion" is a statutory pre-requisite for the project to be implemented. An expert familiar with the land investment field told reporters that the opinion letter is a very early step in the project process. Without it, it is difficult to carry out subsequent procedures and the land cannot be used. After the opinion letter is canceled, the entire project's subsequent land use process needs to be repeated, and the project progress may be delayed.

Another industry expert told reporters that the revocation of the opinion means the termination of the compliance review of the project's pre-space planning, and its legal significance lies in the removal of the pre-examination constraints on land use. The "Construction Project Land Use Pre-examination and Location Opinion Letter" is a statutory pre-requisite stipulated in the "Regulations on the Implementation of the Land Management Law of the People's Republic of China", which must be completed before the project is established. During the application process, procedures such as environmental impact assessment and mining rights can be advanced in parallel with the pre-preparatory work, but the handling of the land use right certificate must obtain this opinion letter.

Regarding the reasons for enterprises to voluntarily apply for cancellation, the expert analyzed that there are usually three possibilities: major adjustments to project planning (such as changes in site selection); failure to implement land indicators; and changes in the investor or construction content. After cancellation, enterprises can immediately re - apply, but they need to re - go through the entire approval process, and the processing time is affected by the efficiency of local government affairs, usually requiring 15 to 30 working days (including the public notice period). He also specially noted that mining without the completion of the new opinion letter is considered an "unpermitted mining" act prohibited by the "Mineral Resources Law of the People's Republic of China".

According to the first environmental impact assessment report of the Jiànxià Wō project, the project's mining production scale is 30 million tons/year, and the average grade of lithium oxide is 0.28%. According to calculations by multiple institutions, the annual lithium carbonate production capacity of the mining area is about 100,000 tons or more. Public information shows that Yichun Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. was established on August 27, 2021, and in April 2022, it won the right to explore the Jiànxià Wō mining area for 865 million RMB. In August of the same year, it obtained the mining permit, which is valid until August 9, 2025.

With the lithium carbonate futures price bottoming out and rebounding, the sector sentiment has improved. Some securities firms analyze that the local mainstream lithium enterprises are all showing a sufficient order of lithium salts, the downstream continues to pick up goods, and their own inventory is extremely low. Some enterprises have already reached the maximum production rate but still cannot fully meet the downstream demand. The demand narrative has not changed, the production scheduling performance is strong, the inventory is still at a historical low, and the trend of phased inventory reduction has not changed. The institution is optimistic about the overall beta opportunity of the lithium sector.

In addition, regarding the current situation of Yichun lithium mine, an informed source close to Yichun lithium mica mine told reporters that at present, there are enterprises communicating with local government departments on the issue of lithium mine grade, and the core contradiction involves the issue of supplementary payment of transferred rights.

Before this, several mining companies had also extracted lithium mines while mining ceramic soil, and the mineral resources belong to the state. The lithium mines that had not been paid for historical mining and utilization of lithium mines, which were previously state-owned, now need to be paid to the tax authorities according to relevant regulations. According to the requirements of the "Jiangxi Province Mining Rights Transfer Income Collection and Management Implementation Measures," it is necessary to assess the mining rights transfer income for the lithium mine resources that have been utilized but not disposed of for a fee in the relevant mines in Yichun from September 30, 2006, to April 30, 2023. In April, the assessment report for the mining rights transfer income of the utilized resource reserves was released, and the next step is to enter the tax payment supplement phase.

The above mentioned informed sources said that due to the long retroactive period of more than a decade, some enterprises do not recognize the amount of back payment and the calculation method, and are still communicating with government departments.

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