Chinese battery materials group Huayou has cleared Australian foreign investment approval for its $210 million takeover of Atlantic Lithium, owner of Ghana’s first parliamentary-ratified lithium mine.
The milestone represents a major step forward in the multi-jurisdictional acquisition process, removing a critical regulatory obstacle in the Western jurisdiction where Atlantic Lithium is corporate-domiciled and publicly listed.
“Australia’s Treasury notified Atlantic Lithium that the Commonwealth Government has no objection to Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt’s proposed acquisition of the company by scheme of arrangement, satisfying one condition of the Scheme Implementation Deed the two firms signed on May 7.”
Huayou chairman, Chen Hongliang
Australia’s Treasury notified Atlantic Lithium that the Commonwealth Government has no objection to Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt’s proposed acquisition of the company by scheme of arrangement, satisfying one condition of the Scheme Implementation Deed the two firms signed on May 7.
The deal, priced at $0.25 per Atlantic Lithium share, still needs approval from Atlantic Lithium shareholders and the Supreme Court of Western Australia, along with other regulatory sign-offs. A shareholder vote is expected in November, with implementation targeted for December.
Ewoyaa Lithium Asset and Ownership Dynamics
The prize is Ewoyaa, a hard-rock spodumene deposit about 110 kilometres from Takoradi in Ghana’s Central Region, which Ghana’s Parliament ratified as the country’s first lithium mining lease in March.
Under its definitive feasibility study, the project is designed to produce roughly 300,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate a year over a 12-year mine life.
Huayou has separately agreed to pay Ewoyaa’s joint-venture partner, Elevra Lithium, about $70 million for its stake and offtake rights, a deal that would give Huayou effective control of around 87 percent of the project once both transactions close, alongside Ghana’s free-carried 13 percent state interest.
Strategic Expansion and Chinese Critical-Mineral Dominance
Huayou chairman Chen Hongliang described the acquisition in strategic terms when the deal was first announced in May, calling it “a logical transaction for Huayou as we continue to build a new energy materials business.”
The company already owns Zimbabwe’s Arcadia Lithium project, bought for about $422 million in 2022, and Ewoyaa would become its second major African hard-rock lithium asset, extending Chinese control over African critical-mineral supply at a time when Ghana’s government has said it wants to capture more of the downstream processing value from its own minerals.
Shareholder Roadmap and Final Regulatory Approvals
Atlantic Lithium’s board continues to unanimously recommend shareholders back the scheme, in the absence of a superior proposal and subject to an independent expert confirming it remains in shareholders’ best interests.
A Scheme Booklet setting out the board’s reasoning and an independent expert’s report is due to be sent to shareholders in October, ahead of the November vote, with the deal still requiring approval from Ghana’s Securities and Exchange Commission, Chinese authorities and the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority before it can close.
The completion of these final steps will mark a historic transition in West Africa’s critical minerals extraction sector.
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