By Justina Lee

A unit of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. has been awarded the rights to a lithium mine in China as the company looks to boost its supply of the metal as it embarks on new battery projects for the electric-vehicle industry.

The supplier of batteries to Tesla Inc. said Thursday that its subsidiary, Yichun Contemporary Amperex Resources Ltd., had won an 865 million yuan ($134.8 million) bid for the exploration rights to a lithium project in China's Jiangxi province. The deposit contains an estimated 2.66 million tons of associated lithium metal oxide, it said.

CATL said it will "speed up the exploration and development of lithium mineral resources and increase the supply of lithium in a bid to bring the prices of lithium-related raw materials back to a reasonable level."

Prices of the strategic metal, used in EV batteries, has been surging recently as emissions-reduction goals drive demand for electric vehicles.

The news comes after CATL last week said it will jointly develop a $6 billion EV battery project with state-owned companies in Indonesia, part of a bid to capitalize on the shift by the auto industry toward battery-powered vehicles.

Shares of CATL were last 0.6% lower at CNY404.50, taking year-to-date losses to about 31%.


Write to Justina Lee at justina.lee@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-21-22 0254ET