(Yicai Global) Feb. 22 -- Shares in Tibet Summit Resources soared by the exchange-imposed daily limit today after the Chinese mining firm said it has chosen the contractor and core equipment suppliers for its USD721 million lithium mine in Argentina putting the project on target to start extraction in the first half of next year.

Tibet Summit’s share price [SHA:600338] surged 10 percent to CNY34.95 (USD5.52).

PowerChina International Group, the world’s biggest electrical engineering contractor, has been selected to be the general contractor for a fee of USD360 million, Tibet Summit said yesterday. It will be in charge of design, procurement, installation and debugging.

Tibet Summit won the development rights to the Sal de los Angeles lithium project in northern Argentina in November last year. The lithium plant is scheduled to be up and running by the end of next year with an expected output of 50,000 tons of battery-grade lithium carbonate a year. The first phase is due to start operations in February next year with an annual output of 25,000 tons of lithium carbonate.

Tus-Membrane New Material Technology was selected as the Build-Operate-Transfer contractor of the new plant’s key production facilities in its first phase, the contractor is expected to provide CNY1.6 billion (USD253 million) worth of key production system, build the facility, and will be responsible for its operation in its first three years of commercial operation, and will spend additional 12 years to help to manage the plant after the facility is transferred, Lhasa-based Tibet Summit said.

Shanghai-based Tus-Membrane will recover its investment costs and make a profit through equipment-related payments from Tibet Summit. It will also charge processing fees for the lithium extraction from the salt lake brines, it added.

Sunresin New Materials will also provide the project’s first phase with other key production devices worth CNY650 million (USD102.6 million), which include the adsorption equipment and adsorbents, Tibet Summit said. All equipment should be installed by the end of this year.

Xi’an, northwestern Shaanxi province-based Sunresin’s share price [SHE:300487] climbed 7.48 percent to close at CNY104.58 (USD16.51) today. However, the stock price of Power Construction Corporation of China [SHA:601669], owner of PowerChina International, closed down 7.06 percent at CNY8.29 (USD1.31).

Editor: Kim Taylor