Gasgoo Munich-On August 7 that the Yifeng County Ecology Bureau in Yichun has officially addressed rumors of a production restart at CATL's Jianxiawo lithium mine, stating that the facility remains under maintenance and has not yet resumed operations.
Authorities confirmed that on-site inspections found the facility in a state of maintenance shutdown, with no production activities such as ore loading or crushing taking place. The company has been ordered to expedite the environmental impact assessment (EIA) approval process. Officials said they will continue to closely monitor the mine's production and maintenance status.
Under the "Catalogue for Classification Management of Environmental Impact Assessment of Construction Projects," the "non-ferrous metal mining and dressing industry" is required to compile an environmental impact report. The EIA must be approved by municipal-level environmental authorities.
Image source: CATL
The Jianxiawo lithium mine has been shuttered for over a year. When the revised Mineral Resources Law took effect in July 2025, lithium was classified as an independent strategic mineral. Previously, the Jianxiawo mining area held a permit for ceramic clay, yet it was actually extracting lepidolite—a mismatch between the permit and the resource. Under the new regulations, the mine must change its primary mineral designation to lithium, pay outstanding mining rights transfer fees, and redo all procedures, including environmental and safety assessments. The mine remains in full shutdown during this permit transition.
Regarding the environmental assessment, the Jianxiawo mine released its initial public notice in December 2025. A draft for public comment was posted on July 27, 2026, marking the entry into the statutory public participation phase. Under the process, once public consultation concludes, the environmental impact report must be optimized and formally submitted for approval. Production can only resume after receiving the green light from the competent authority.
The Jianxiawo lithium mine is a critical piece of CATL's upstream lithium resource strategy. The deposit has an average lithium oxide grade of roughly 0.27% to 0.28%, classifying it as a low-grade lepidolite mine, with a planned annual mining scale of 30 million tons.
In June of this year, the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Natural Resources issued an administrative permit for land use pre-review and site selection. The permit was granted to Yichun Times New Energy Mining Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Yichun Times"), an indirect holding subsidiary of CATL. The decision takes effect on June 17, 2026, and remains valid until June 17, 2029. This permit corresponds to the lithium mining project at Zhenkouli in Yifeng County and Jianxiawo in Fengxin County, Jiangxi Province.
