CanMax and Jiuling Lithium Take Over Nigerian Copycat of Ganfeng Lithium

In February 2025, Bloomberg first reported that CanMax Technologies joined hands with Jiuling Lithium to take over the Nigerian copycat of Ganfeng Lithium. The Ganfeng Lithium in Nigeria has no affiliation whatsoever with the mining major Ganfeng Lithium in Xinyu, Jiangxi Province, China.

Actually, based on the corporate filing, the transaction was completed discreetly in mid-2024. On the other hand, the Nigerian Ministry of Solid Minerals Development revealed that the two Chinese firms will provide 80% of the financing to build the refinery.

Similarly, CanMax and Jiuling will jointly hold 80% in the Nigerian Ganfeng. The remaining shares are held by Diamond New Energy, another Chinese company, and Three Crown Mines, a local Nigerian enterprise.

The mining license is actually held by the state-owned enterprise, Nasarawa Mining. Under a 10-year exclusive agreement, Nigerian Ganfeng will be able to extract lithium from the Nasarawa mine, conditioned upon investing in the refinery. The cost of the refinery is estimated at around USD 250 million.

As a signing bonus, Ganfeng Lithium paid USD 1.5 million to the Nasarawa State government and USD 0.5 million to the Endo community leaders to finance local projects. Nigerian Ganfeng has also entered into a profit-sharing regime with the State Government and will also acquit itself of royalties.