North American lithium producer Elevra Lithium Limited has announced that it will sell its entire interest in the Ewoyaa Lithium Project in Ghana to Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co Ltd. Under the agreement, the transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of fiscal year 2027, with Elevra receiving approximately US$71 million in cash (before fees and taxes). The sale includes all of its rights and interests in the project, as well as associated offtake rights. Meanwhile, Huayou also plans to acquire Atlantic Lithium Limited to gain full control of the project, although the two transactions are independent of each other. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals in Ghana.

On May 7, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., Ltd. issued an announcement stating that it has signed a "Scheme Implementation Deed" and related agreement appendices with Atlantic Lithium Limited, planning to acquire 100% of its equity through a scheme of arrangement. Upon completion of the transaction, Atlantic Lithium will be consolidated into Huayou Cobalt's financial statements, and Huayou Cobalt will obtain 100% of its equity. Atlantic Lithium's main business focuses on lithium exploration and development in the African market, with its core asset being the Ewoyaa Lithium Project in Ghana. Huayou Cobalt stated that this is an important step in deepening its overseas resource layout, which will further enhance its lithium resource self-sufficiency rate and supply chain security resilience.

[SMM Tin Midday Review: Rising Futures Center Suppressed Buying Interest, Trading Cooled Today After Partial Demand Release Yesterday]

SMM Alumina Morning Comment 2.5 Futures: During the night session, the most-traded alumina futures contract AO2605 opened at 2,824 yuan/mt, reached a high of 2,824 yuan/mt, hit a low of 2,781 yuan/mt, and closed at 2,788 yuan/mt, down 36 yuan/mt from the previous day. Open interest increased by 7,776 lots to 383,000 lots, indicating an overall cautious market sentiment. From a technical perspective, the closing price was above MA10 (2,777.80) and MA30 (2,772.63), providing some upward momentum, but below MA5 (2,792.20), limiting gains with overhead pressure still present. Meanwhile, the MACD indicator DIF (7.18) crossed above DEA (0.19), with the bullish crossover at low levels weakening and the histogram narrowing to 13.96, suggesting alumina futures are expected to continue weakening in the near term. Industry Updates: 1) Overseas alumina transactions: On February 3, 2026, 30,000 mt of alumina was traded overseas at a transaction price of $310/mt FOB Western Australia for March shipment. The previous transaction was on January 20 at $304/mt FOB Western Australia for February shipment. Ore: As of February 4, 2026, the SMM imported bauxite index stood at $62.42/mt, unchanged from the previous trading day. The SMM Guinea FOB average price was $39/mt, unchanged from the previous trading day. The SMM Guinea bauxite CIF average price was $61/mt, unchanged from the previous trading day. The SMM Australian low-temperature bauxite CIF average price was $60/mt, unchanged from the previous trading day. The SMM Australian high-temperature bauxite CIF average price was $56/mt, unchanged from the previous trading day. The Malaysian bauxite CIF average price was $47/mt, unchanged from the previous trading day. The Malaysian bauxite CIF (washed) average price was $60/mt, unchanged from the previous trading day. The Ghanaian bauxite CIF price was $73/mt, unchanged from the previous trading day. The bauxite CFR (Turkey) price was $71.5/mt, down $2/mt from last Friday. Domestic ore side, bauxite production resumptions in Shanxi were active, with currently ample supply. Combined with some domestic ore production lines planning to upgrade to imported ore lines recently, domestic ore demand weakened again, and prices were under pressure. Imported ore side, market transactions were sluggish, with offer prices continuing to decline. Some alumina refineries reported that amid falling ore prices, procurement plans remained cautious. SMM will continue to monitor domestic and overseas mines' production, port shipments, and price trends. Spot Prices: As of February 4, 2025, the SMM alumina index was at 2,619.87 yuan/mt, down 0.27 yuan/mt MoM. The SMM Shandong alumina index was at 2,549.77 yuan/mt, down 0.19 yuan/mt MoM. The SMM Henan alumina index was at 2,617.91 yuan/mt, down 0.92 yuan/mt MoM. The SMM Shanxi alumina index was at 2,604.23 yuan/mt, down 0.26 yuan/mt MoM. The SMM Guizhou alumina index was at 2,693.56 yuan/mt, down 0.23 yuan/mt MoM. The SMM Guangxi alumina index was at 2,674 yuan/mt, down 0.33 yuan/mt MoM. Spot-Futures Price Spread Daily Report: According to SMM data, on February 4, the SMM alumina index was at a discount of 208.13 yuan/mt against the most-traded contract's latest transaction price at 11:30 AM. Warrant Daily Report: On February 4, total registered alumina warrants increased by 6,944 mt from the previous trading day to 196,300 mt. Shandong region alumina warrants remained unchanged at 7,796 mt. Henan region alumina warrants remained unchanged at 1,203 mt. Guangxi region alumina warrants remained unchanged at 7,505 mt. Gansu region alumina warrants remained unchanged at 17,400 mt. Xinjiang region alumina warrants increased by 6,944 mt from the previous trading day to 162,400 mt. Markets Outside China: As of February 4, 2026, the FOB Western Australia alumina price was $310/mt, the ocean freight rate was $20.2/mt, and the USD/CNY selling rate was around 6.95. This translated to a selling price at China's major ports of approximately 2,674.83 yuan/mt, which was 54.96 yuan/mt above the SMM alumina index price. According to SMM model calculations, the import window was closed. Summary: Overall, as of last Thursday, China's alumina market inventory edged up slightly, with the overall oversupply pattern continuing. Currently, some alumina refineries have started maintenance, with enterprises across various regions arranging production shutdowns of different scales, leading to a decline in the industry operating rate and a weekly production decrease of 35,000 mt to 1.636 million mt. Inventory side, as more enterprises underwent maintenance, alumina in-factory inventory decreased by 3,000 mt to 1.2408 million mt. Aluminum enterprises' raw material inventory edged up slightly to 3.603 million mt, mainly due to continued shipments under long-term contract orders. Warrants, attracted by previously strong futures prices, saw increased delivery willingness, rising by 40,000 mt to 159,100 mt, while in-transit and platform inventory decreased by 30,000 mt as cargoes gradually arrived at end-users. Overall, although the pace of inventory buildup has slowed down compared to the earlier period, overall industry inventory pressure persists, and the destocking progress has fallen short of expectations. Going forward, attention should be paid to the execution of enterprise maintenance plans. If the supply side fails to sustain contraction, inventory is expected to maintain a slight buildup trend next week, and spot alumina prices are expected to be in the doldrums. [Data other than publicly available information is derived from public information, market communication, and SMM's internal database models, processed by SMM for reference only and does not constitute decision-making advice.]

Benefiting from both rising gold prices and increasing volumes, Zijin Mining delivered a stellar report card. In Q1, the company achieved revenue of 98.5 billion yuan, up 24.79% YoY; net profit attributable to shareholders of the publicly listed firm reached 20.1 billion yuan, surging 97.50% YoY, nearly doubling; total profit soared 115% YoY to 31.6 billion yuan, with all core financial metrics hitting record highs across the board. The underlying logic behind the accelerating profitability was clearly identifiable: the historic breakthrough in gold prices served as the most direct catalyst. The unit price of gold ingots jumped from 661.83 yuan/g in the same period last year to 1,089.04 yuan/g, a gain of over 64%, and the gross margin of mine-produced gold expanded from 52.91% to 69.60%; silver prices also surged in tandem, soaring from 5.50 yuan/g to 15.33 yuan/g, with the gross margin of mine-produced silver leaping to a remarkable 85.59%. The company's overall mine enterprise gross margin rose from 59.94% to 71.01%, and the comprehensive gross margin also climbed from 22.89% to 36.33%, with the price dividend fully realized. Meanwhile, the rise of the lithium segment was reshaping the company's profit structure. Lithium carbonate equivalent production reached 16,229 mt in Q1, compared to only 1,376 mt in the same period last year, up over 10 times YoY, with an average selling price of 101,456 yuan/mt and a gross margin as high as 61.44%. The company expects full-year 2026 lithium carbonate production to reach 120,000 mt, and plans to increase it to 270,000–320,000 mt by 2028, at which point it will rank among the world's largest lithium ore producers. The lithium business is evolving from a marginal increment to a core profit engine. Gold Prices Exceeded Expectations, with the Gold Segment Contributing Core Profits Gold was the largest engine of profit growth this quarter. The company's mines produced 23,497 kg of gold, up 23% YoY, benefiting not only from volume growth but also from a price tailwind. The average price of gold ingots reached 1,089.04 yuan/g, and the average price of gold concentrates reached 1,010.55 yuan/g, up approximately 65% and 64% YoY, respectively. The sources of incremental growth also warranted attention. Zijin Gold International's newly acquired Akyem Gold Mine in Ghana and Ridgold Polymetallic Mine in Kazakhstan, acquired in 2025, had begun contributing production, with the benefits of external M&A gradually being released. Under the resonance of high gold prices and volume growth, the gross margin of mine-produced gold business surged significantly: the gold ingot gross margin rose from 52.91% to 69.60%, and the gold concentrates gross margin climbed from 71.05% to 80.89%, delivering a notable boost to overall profits. Copper: Kamoa-Kakula Production Cuts Dragged Down Output, While Other Mines Advanced Steadily The copper segment produced 259,214 mt of mine-produced copper in Q1, down from 287,571 mt in the same period last year, primarily due to a sharp decline in equity production at the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine — plunging from 59,163 mt in the same period last year to 27,361 mt, a drop of over 50%. Excluding this disruption, the company's other copper mines all advanced in an orderly manner as planned. Of particular note was the Julong Copper Mine Phase II, which was officially commissioned in late January 2026 and contributed 60,000 mt of mine-produced copper in Q1. The capacity was still in the ramp-up stage, with further incremental output expected going forward. Rising copper prices also effectively offset the volume pressure. The average price of copper concentrates rose from 60,179 yuan/mt to 81,543 yuan/mt, with the gross margin further improving from 65.05% to 70.84%; the gross margins of electrodeposition copper and copper cathode also expanded to 61.61% and 56.20%, respectively. The smelting copper business had a gross margin of only 0.32% due to thin processing profits, but scale effects still enabled it to contribute a considerable absolute profit amount. Lithium Segment: A Leap from Zero to One, Targeting the World's Largest by 2028 The lithium business was the segment with the most dramatic changes in this quarterly report. Lithium carbonate equivalent production reached 16,229 mt (with Q1 sales of 13,329 mt), achieving an order-of-magnitude expansion from the base of 1,376 mt in the same period last year, driven by the capacity ramp-up following the successive commissioning of multiple projects including the 3Q Salt Lake lithium mine, the Lagocuo Salt Lake lithium mine, and the Xiangyuan hard-rock lithium mine. Profitability was equally impressive — lithium carbonate had an average selling price of 101,456 yuan/mt and a gross margin of 61.44%, second only to silver and ranking as the second highest among all products, reflecting the inherent cost advantages of salt lake lithium resources. In stark contrast, the lithium carbonate gross margin in Q4 last year was only 24.59%, surging nearly 37 percentage points within just one quarter, benefiting from both improved product mix and a cyclical recovery in lithium prices. Of greater strategic significance was the long-term plan: the main mining and processing workflow of the Manono lithium mine northeast project had been fully connected, and is expected to be completed and commissioned in June this year; the company plans to achieve lithium carbonate equivalent production of 270,000–320,000 mt by 2028, at which point it will become one of the world's largest lithium ore producers. Management has explicitly positioned the lithium segment as the "third pillar" core profit source after copper and gold. Cash Flow and Balance Sheet: Ample Ammunition, Strong Foundation for Expansion Financial structure side, total assets reached 549.9 billion yuan at the end of Q1, up 7.41% from the beginning of the year; the cash and bank balance was 99.4 billion yuan, a significant increase of 33.8 billion yuan from 65.6 billion yuan at the beginning of the year, with cash and cash equivalents reaching 90.3 billion yuan at period-end. The ample cash reserves provided sufficient ammunition for the company to pursue global mine M&A opportunities and fund capital expenditures on projects under construction. Net assets side, equity attributable to shareholders of the publicly listed firm reached 200.4 billion yuan, up 8.02% from the beginning of the year; the weighted average return on equity (ROE) reached 10.35%, up 3.23 percentage points from 7.12% in the same period last year, with capital return efficiency continuing to improve. The liability side saw some expansion, with short-term borrowings increasing from 32.3 billion yuan to 41.2 billion yuan, bonds payable rising from 47.4 billion yuan to 56.3 billion yuan, and total liabilities amounting to 282.5 billion yuan, an increase of approximately 21.5 billion yuan from the beginning of the year, primarily to support project construction and capacity expansion. Although the absolute scale of debt rose, the company's debt-servicing capacity was not under pressure given the significant improvement in operating cash flow, with the asset-liability ratio at approximately 51.4%, remaining well under control overall.

According to the latest data released by the General Administration of Customs, SMM statistics showed that China's total manganese ore imports in March 2026 were 3.1837 million mt, up 38.03% MoM and up 64.86% YoY. Total manganese ore imports from January to March 2026 were approximately 8.9327 million mt, up 3.0717 million mt YoY (approximately 5.8611 million mt imported from January to March 2025), up 52.41% YoY. In March, imports by origin were: Australia (395,700 mt, down 4.2% MoM), South Africa (1.8537 million mt, up 87.16% MoM), Gabon (452,300 mt, up 20.58% MoM), Ghana (196,700 mt, down 27.26% MoM), Brazil (94,800 mt, down 4.91% MoM), and Myanmar (53,900 mt, up 7.99% MoM).