The Pacific Securities Co., Ltd. has released a research report indicating that China's substantial lithium mica reserves, with clearly defined production areas, serve as a core domestic raw material ensuring self-sufficiency in lithium resources. These resources are primarily concentrated in Yichun, Jiangxi Province, while significant new ore belts have been discovered in Hunan, Sichuan, and Inner Mongolia.

The industry's inclusion under strategic mineral supervision, coupled with ongoing mine rectifications, is likely to maintain a tight supply-demand balance in the short term. Over the medium to long term, competitive advantages are expected to shift toward leaders that combine resource strength with integrated operations.

The report outlines that lithium mica extraction employs multiple processing routes, with low-carbon comprehensive recovery emerging as the primary long-term direction for technological upgrades. Sulfate roasting currently stands as the mainstream method for mature mass production. While various new low-carbon lithium extraction technologies show considerable promise, their large-scale industrial application remains limited due to equipment and cost constraints.

Developing low-grade lithium mica offers several advantages, including high resource self-sufficiency rates, significant value from associated rare metal comprehensive utilization, well-established domestic supply chain support, and strong policy backing. This approach represents a vital pathway for safeguarding China's lithium resource security and mitigating risks from overseas supply chain fluctuations. However, the development process faces numerous challenges, such as significant ore grade volatility, relatively low beneficiation recovery rates, substantial environmental and solid waste disposal pressures, stricter mining approval procedures, and risks associated with lithium price cyclical fluctuations.

Companies related to the industry chain include: 1) Those with high process flexibility, which enhance the cost-effectiveness of lithium carbonate processing through methods like sulfate roasting and broaden profit margins via associated metal recovery—examples include Dazhong Mining, Yongxing Special Materials Technology, and Corun New Energy; 2) Those pursuing mining-smelting integration with resource certainty, which streamline the entire chain from mining to lithium extraction to battery production, focus on self-owned compliant lithium mica mines, and lock in cost advantages through raw material self-sufficiency—examples include Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), Ganfeng Lithium, and Gotion High-tech.

Risk warnings include lithium price fluctuations, rising raw ore costs, stricter environmental policies, potential delays in technological iteration, restrictions on resource extraction, and weakened downstream demand.