Ganfeng Lithium (赣锋锂业), China’s leading lithium compounds producer, has completed its ￡190 million ($253 million) takeover of UK’s Bacanora Lithium which is developing the world’s largest lithium mine project in Mexico, Yicai reported on August 11.

The acquisition was made through Ganfeng’s subsidiary Shanghai Ganfeng International Trading, which previously owned a 28.9% stake before the deal, the company said on August 8. Ganfeng Lithium is based in Xinyu of eastern China’s Jiangxi Province. 

The move will help Ganfeng Lithium expand business and boost competitiveness. “It is in line with the company’s upstream and downstream integration and development strategy in the new energy vehicle industry,” it added.

Yicai reported that Bacanora’s lithium clay project in the Sonoran Desert has about 8.8 million tons of lithium carbonate equivalent, making it the world’s largest lithium mine project. Expected to begin operation next year, the project is estimated to have an internal rate of return before tax of 26%, with a payback period of four years.

Founded in 2018, London-based Bacanora Lithium is listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market. The Sonora project, in which it owns a 100% stake, is its main asset.

China’s lithium carbonate prices have surged to about RMB471,000 ($69,880) a ton now from RMB503,000 ($74,653) in mid-April and RMB364,000 ($54,023) in February.

With prices surging due to short supply, Ganfeng Lithium has been working hard to acquire resources. In July, it offered as much as RMB6.5 billion ($962 million) to buy Argentine company Lithea, which would be its largest acquisition to date, according to the Yicai report.