Foreword:

The Mahong factory, founded in 2012, is located in the High-tech Development Zone of Xinyu City, Jiangxi Province. It covers an area of approximately one thousand acres and is rated as a "Green Factory". After the project with an annual output of 50,000 tons of lithium hydroxide is put into operation, the total designed capacity of battery-grade lithium hydroxide in the Mahon plant will reach 81,000 tons; it can also produce 15,000 tons of lithium carbonate, 12,000 tons of lithium chloride and other compound products each year.

On October 30, the commissioning ceremony of Ganfeng Lithium's annual production of 50,000 tons of lithium hydroxide project was held in Jiangxi Xinyu Mahong Plant. The project covers an area of 292 acres and has a construction area of approximately 120,000 square meters. After it is put into operation, the Mahong plant will increase its annual production capacity of 50,000 tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide, with a total designed production capacity of 81,000 tons, which is among the highest in the world.

At the commissioning ceremony, Jiang Bin, Xu Hong, Chen Wenhua, Li Bingping, Xinyu City leaders, Yu Guojie, Shu Yongzhong, Nie Zhixin, Zhang Tao, Zeng Shaozhong and other high-tech zone leaders, Li Liangbin and other Ganfeng Lithium leaders attended and expressed their views on the Mahong factory, Ganfeng Lithium Industry, and even Xinyu City's new energy industry are eagerly looking forward to the booming development.

"The construction of the 10,000-ton lithium salt project is a milestone in the development of Ganfeng Lithium. It has promoted the optimization and adjustment of the industrial chain structure of the enterprise, transforming from single metal lithium products to diversified lithium products, and from midstream industries to upstream The extension of the industry makes Ganfeng Lithium one of the world's leading producers of lithium compounds." Li Liangbin, chairman of Ganfeng Lithium, said in his speech.

If the two generations of Ganfeng’s main products, battery-grade lithium carbonate and battery-grade lithium hydroxide, both represent industry standards, then the Mahong plant is the engine that continuously promotes the rise of industry standards.

The Mahong Factory was built in 2012. At the beginning of the construction, it was a key construction project of Xinyu City's "Ten Hundred Billion Project" and was listed as "National Key Industry Revitalization and Technological Transformation Project in 2012". At that time, Ganfeng Lithium's battery-grade lithium carbonate products were widely acclaimed in the industry, and the development of battery-grade lithium hydroxide was just completed (in Chengdong factory).

Mahong Factory2010~2020

"We realized the market prospects of lithium hydroxide, so we started to make arrangements." Li Liangbin's memory of 8 years ago is as clear as yesterday.

In 2013, the Mahon factory was completed;

In 2014, battery-grade lithium hydroxide was successfully put into production;

In 2016, the designed production capacity of lithium hydroxide reached 11,000 tons;

In 2018, the second phase of Ma Hong was completed, adding 20,000 tons of lithium hydroxide production capacity.

"In 2020, with the commissioning of Ma Hong's annual production of 50,000 tons of lithium hydroxide, battery-grade lithium hydroxide production capacity has reached a new level," said Luo Guanghua, the head of the design department.

Today, the products of the Mahong factory cover battery-grade lithium hydroxide, battery-grade lithium carbonate, lithium chloride and other compounds, which are widely used in new energy vehicles, 3C batteries, chemical pharmaceuticals, chemical manufacturing and other fields, including Tesla and BMW , Volkswagen, LG Chem and other world-renowned companies provide power battery materials and new energy solutions.

"In order to ensure product quality, our materials come from Australian mines where the group holds shares or signed underwriting agreements," said Wang Bin, general manager of the Ma Hong factory. Ma Hong's quality control starts with the selection of raw materials.

Aerial photo of Mahon factory

Transformation roasting, sulfuric acid acidification roasting, precise sodium-potassium control, liquid-solid combined cycle demagnetization...After complex processing, the battery-grade lithium hydroxide produced must pass strict product tests before it can be called a qualified product.

Behind this series of production processes is the excellent management team and leading technology of the Mahon factory.

"It may be the tradition of Ganfeng. Starting from Mr. Li (Li Liangbin), all of our managers have actually started from technical positions, so they attach great importance to technology research and development and have clear incentives." Wang Bin Describe the Ma Hong factory in my eyes, "So just like Luo Guanghua, we have a lot of skilled people who have worked in Ganfeng and the factory for 20 years."

The technology of the Mahon factory was not achieved overnight. "At that time, in order to solve the lithium hydroxide impurity problem, the management of Ma Hong and the technical team were on the production line for a month, working overtime day and night to tackle tough problems." Ganfeng Vice President Deng Zhaonan recalled during the Quality Month event that the technical team almost made a military order. We must overcome difficulties and start production smoothly."

Such a story occurs in every product development process, from the initial removal of silicon impurities to the later control of magnetic foreign bodies. The management staff led the charge, the technical staff had forgotten food and sleep, and they had the same desire. They overcome one industry problem after another, and their technical capabilities steadily increased.

Battery grade lithium hydroxide

With the three-pronged approach of materials, management and technology, Ma Hong’s battery-grade lithium hydroxide products have the characteristics of low impurity content, good consistency, uniform particle size distribution, and low magnetic properties, and can provide customized services according to customer requirements.

Today, Ganfeng has presided over (participated) in the formulation of a number of national (industry) standards such as "Lithium Hydroxide Monohydrate" (GB/T 8766-2013). "Let the quality of Ganfeng become the industry standard", the expectation of Wang Xiaoshen, vice president of Ganfeng, is becoming a reality.

In the descriptions of the leaders and technical backbones of Ganfeng and Mahong Plant, "customer" is the most frequently occurring word:

"With the development of the industry, the requirements of customers are actually increasing."

"Customers' strict requirements allow us to grow."

"Products must meet the highest requirements of customers."

"Achieving customer recognition is our greatest value"

...

As a new energy upstream company, the products produced by the Ma Hong plant are affecting the final quality of power batteries and new energy vehicles. "Being responsible for customers, that is, being responsible for the entire industry" is the voice of every Ganfeng technical and production staff.

Adhering to the sustainable development strategy is also another embodiment of the Ma Hong factory's responsibility to the industry. Only by achieving a balance between society, economy, and environment can the company maintain a healthy growth trend-among the three, environmental friendliness is always the most basic requirement.

The whole plant promotes coal to gas and uses natural gas instead of coal as the main energy source; realizes 100% recycling and recycling of condensed water; encourages the utilization of by-products, and transports products such as calcium silicate slag, sodium sulfate, calcium sulfate slag, etc. produced during the production process In the cement, washing powder and other industries, in 2019 alone, companies provided 540,000 tons of by-products to the cement industry, which is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 93,700...

In 2017, the Mahon factory was rated as a "green factory", and its sustainable development measures were recognized by the industry.

The Mahong factory has been in the industry for 8 years. Based on the long-term vision of the management, the Mahong factory has shifted its focus to battery-grade lithium hydroxide to conform to the market trend; the management team and the technical team are integrated to enable the product development process China has repeatedly overcome difficult problems and achieved mass production; with the tireless struggle of every technical, marketing, after-sales, and logistics staff, the quality of the products has been continuously improved... The success seems to be accidental, but in fact there are inevitable reasons.

"In the future, the Ma Hong base will continue to take customer requirements as the first standard, develop new technologies, optimize old processes, and produce the best lithium products in the market," Wang Bin said, which is also the voice of all Ma Hong staff.