MAJOR domestic cobalt maker Zhejiang Huayou Holding Group Co. is teaming up with Shenzhen-listed Sichuan New Energy Power Co. to produce lithium and recycle spent batteries, a Sichuan New Energy filing said Friday.

Zhejiang Huayou Holding, the world’s biggest cobalt refiner in 2020, has been looking at investing more in lithium projects in China and overseas to add to its battery metal offering, a company executive said in September.

Both lithium and cobalt are key ingredients in electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

Sichuan New Energy said it had signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Zhejiang Huayou Holding, parent of Shanghai-listed Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, under which the partners will collaborate in producing lithium chemicals, as well as in the acquisition and development of important mineral resources at home and abroad.

Under the agreement, which is valid for three years, Zhejiang Huayou Holding has also signaled its intent to buy lithium chemicals from Sichuan New Energy, the latter said in its filing, adding that the two sides would jointly build a lithium battery recycling base for Sichuan or even Southwest China as a whole. (SD-Agencies)