Chinese tycoon Chen Hongliang's Huayou Cobalt is paying $210 million for Ghana's first lithium mine and deepening China's African minerals grip

China's grip on Africa's battery metals supply chain just extended into West Africa.

Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, the Chinese battery materials giant chaired and led by Chen Hongliang, has agreed to acquire Atlantic Lithium in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $210 million, gaining control of Ghana's Ewoyaa lithium project, the country's first parliamentary-ratified lithium mine.

The offer prices Atlantic Lithium shares at $0.25 apiece, alongside its outstanding warrants, and will be implemented through a court-approved scheme of arrangement. A shareholder vote is scheduled for November 2026, with completion targeted for December 2026, pending regulatory clearances from Ghana's Securities and Exchange Commission, Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board, Chinese authorities, the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority and the Australian Federal Court.

Ewoyaa is the asset that justifies every step of that regulatory queue. Located approximately 110 kilometers from the port of Takoradi in Ghana's Central Region, the project holds 36.8 million tonnes of resources grading 1.24% lithium oxide, equivalent to approximately 1.13 million tonnes of lithium carbonate.

Ghana's Parliament ratified the Ewoyaa mining lease in March 2026 after nearly three years of delays and political disagreements over fiscal terms, transforming what had been a development-stage prospect into a legally grounded, bankable asset with an exclusive 15-year mining and processing tenure. It is the first lithium mine in Ghana's history to receive full parliamentary endorsement.

Chen described the transaction in strategic rather than opportunistic terms. "The acquisition of the Ewoyaa project complements our existing battery metal mining operations in Africa and represents a logical transaction for Huayou as we continue to build a new energy materials business," he said in a statement.

Huayou already operates the Arcadia Lithium Project in Zimbabwe, acquired in 2022 for approximately $422 million and now in trial production of lithium sulphate. Ewoyaa becomes its second major African hard-rock lithium asset, bringing Huayou's total African lithium investment to approximately $632 million.

Beyond the acquisition itself, Huayou has separately agreed to take over the remaining development funding obligations at Ewoyaa regardless of whether the deal closes. That commitment removes a significant execution risk from the project and addresses what Atlantic Lithium chief executive Keith Muller identified as the central pressure the company faced.

"The proposal offers an attractive proposition for Atlantic Lithium shareholders, particularly when considered amid ongoing lithium price volatility, complex jurisdictional challenges and against the timing and execution risks attached to financing, developing and operating the Ewoyaa Lithium Project under the project's current joint venture arrangements," he said.

Atlantic Lithium's largest shareholder, Assore International Holdings, has confirmed its support for the transaction. The existing joint venture structure at Ewoyaa, which had created friction between Atlantic Lithium and Ghana's Minerals Income Investment Fund over financing and development sequencing, will be dissolved under Huayou's single-ownership model.

The deal lands against a backdrop of recovering lithium prices. Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices have risen approximately 49% year-to-date in 2026, reaching around 196,500 yuan (approximately $27,000) per tonne. Analysts are forecasting a supply deficit later this year as EV demand accelerates globally.

Huayou's move to lock in a hard-rock resource capable of producing 3.6 million tonnes of spodumene concentrate over a 12-year mine life is a calculated bet that supply constraints will persist long enough to justify the premium paid today.

China's Zijin Mining, Tianqi Lithium and Ganfeng Lithium have all been expanding African lithium output simultaneously. Huayou's Ewoyaa acquisition positions it squarely in that race, and moves it into West Africa for the first time.