(Yicai Global) Sept. 2 -- Yulong Gold’s share price touched a seven-year high after the Chinese gold miner said it will buy a stake in Australia’s Triton Minerals to acquire graphite resources in Mozambique, thereby getting into the market for lithium battery raw materials.

Yulong Gold [SHA: 601028] finished today 7.5 percent higher at CNY24.56 (USD3.55), after earlier climbing by as much as 8 percent to CNY24.66, the highest since May 2015. The stock has gained more than 40 percent in the past month and a half.

Yulong Gold will pay AUD5 million (USD3.4 million) for 12.42 percent of Triton Minerals through a private placement of shares priced at AUD0.028 (USD0.019) each, becoming the listed graphite miner’s second-largest shareholder, the Chinese firm said in a statement released late yesterday.

Jinan Hi-Tech Holding Group, the majority owner of Jinan-based Yulong, owns 30.56 percent of Triton Minerals, making it the largest shareholder, so the deal constitutes a related party transaction. Jinan Hi-Tech’s interest in the target company will fall to 26.84 percent.

In addition, the company or its subsidiaries will be granted subscription options of the target company equal to the number of shares subscribed to in the private placement, with an exercise price of AUD0.04 through Dec. 31, 2025.

The deal has yet to be approved by Triton Mineral’s shareholders and regulators in China and Australia, Yulong Gold added.

Triton Minerals has stakes in three graphite mines in northern Mozambique. Among them, the Ancuabe Project secured a 25-year mining license in June 2019 and the remaining two are still in the exploration phase, Yulong Gold said.

At present, the most important use of graphite is as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, and this deal will help Yulong Gold secure overseas graphite resources and accelerate its entry into the new energy raw materials market, it said.

Editor: Peter Thomas