(Yicai Global) Dec. 22 -- Tianqi Lithium's share price surged to the highest this year after the Chinese lithium producer said its controlling shareholder will lend the debt-laden firm up to USD117 million to supplement its working capital.

Tianqi Lithium [SHE: 002466] soared as much as 9.9 percent to a 52-week high of CNY38.5 (USD5.90) this afternoon. The shares ended trading at CNY36.10 each, a gain of 3.1 percent.

Founded in 2004, Tianqi Lithium is one of the world's top five suppliers of the material used in electric vehicle batteries. Its controlling shareholder will provide an unsecured loan with an annual interest rate of up to 5 percent, the Chengdu-based company said in a statement yesterday.

The loan agreement adds to recent news that has buoyed the company’s stock price. Tianqi’s shares have gained nearly 30 percent since it said on Dec. 8 that a unit is looking to make USD1.4 billion by selling a stake in Australia's Greenbushes, the world’s largest hard-rock lithium mine.

Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia, which controls Greenbushes, is one of Tianqi Lithium’s two core assets. The other is Chilean lithium miner SQM which the Chinese firm acquired in 2018, resulting in its debt crisis.

Australian nickel and gold miner IGO will acquire 49 percent of TLEA, the Chinese company said on Dec. 8. Tianqi also said that a USD1.9 billion syndicated loan repayment due at the end of last month has been extended by a year, or possibly even longer.

Editor: Emmi Laine