Shanghai (ZXZC)- CATL forged a strategic partnership earlier this week with Sichuan Energy Investment, a Sichuan-based stated-owned provider of power investment and development services, as part of efforts to shore up supply of lithium mineral resource.

Sichuan Energy Investment, CATL signing agreement; photo credit: CATL

Based on Sichuan Energy Investment's advantages in the mining of lithium ores and the production of lithium salts, both parties will carry out extensive cooperation in new energy industry to share resources and deliver win-win outcomes, said Qu Tao, Assistant to the Chairman of CATL.

Wang Cheng, Vice Chairman of Sichuan Energy Investment, noted the in-depth partnership with CATL is formed under China’s strategy for peaking carbon emission and achieving carbon neutrality, and is an important measure to speed up new energy industry deployment for both parties and jointly build an industrial cluster of green energy in Sichuan province.

CATL is striving to build a controllable supply chain of lithium resource, a key battery ingredient.

CATL announced in late Sept. it had agreed to buy out Canadian mining company Millennial Lithium for C$376.8 million ($297.3 million).

Millennial Millennial Lithium has two non-producing lithium brine projects in northern Argentina, with a combined 4.12 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in measured and indicated resources.

Last month, CATL became a new shareholder of a private investment firm Suzhou CATH Energy Technologies, according to the company information inquiry platform Tianyancha. The latter has signed an agreement with Australia's AVZ Minerals and Dathcom Mining to get a 24% stake in the Manono lithium and tin project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.