- Australian Approval Advances Huayou’s Bid for Company Behind Ghana’s First Lithium Mine
Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt has moved a step closer to acquiring Atlantic Lithium, the listed developer behind Ghana’s planned first lithium mine, after Australian authorities cleared the proposed US$210 million takeover as the transaction moves towards shareholder and court approval later this year.
Atlantic Lithium said on September 17 that Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board had approved the proposed acquisition, with the Australian Treasury formally notifying Huayou that the Commonwealth government had no objection to the scheme of arrangement. The decision satisfies one of the conditions precedent contained in the binding agreement signed between the companies on May 7.
The transaction would see Huayou, or a wholly owned subsidiary, acquire all issued Atlantic Lithium shares for US$0.25486 each in cash, valuing the company at approximately US$210 million. When announced, the offer represented a 26.6% premium to Atlantic Lithium’s May 6 closing price and a 21.8% premium to its 30-day volume-weighted average price.
The Australian clearance removes an important regulatory hurdle but does not complete the takeover. Atlantic Lithium said the scheme remains conditional on other regulatory approvals, support from the required majority of shareholders at a scheme meeting and approval by the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
Under the original transaction agreement, additional conditions included regulatory clearances relating to China and the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority, as well as necessary waivers or exemptions under Ghana’s Securities and Exchange Commission takeover rules.
Atlantic Lithium’s board continues unanimously to recommend the transaction in the absence of a superior proposal and provided an independent expert concludes that it is in shareholders’ best interests. Directors have also indicated their intention to vote shares they control in favour of the proposal under the same conditions.
Shareholders are expected to receive a scheme booklet, including the independent expert’s report, in October. A shareholder meeting is scheduled for November, with implementation targeted for December if the remaining conditions are satisfied or waived.
For Ghana, the importance of the transaction extends beyond ownership of a publicly listed mining company. Atlantic Lithium’s principal asset is the Ewoyaa Lithium Project, which is being developed as the country’s first lithium-producing mine and one of West Africa’s most advanced hard-rock lithium developments.
Ewoyaa currently has a mineral resource estimate of 36.8 million tonnes grading 1.24% lithium oxide. Ghana’s Parliament ratified the project’s Mining Lease in March 2026, making it the first lithium mining lease to be granted and ratified in the country. The project had earlier secured an Environmental Protection Authority permit in September 2024 and a Mine Operating Permit the following month.
That places the ownership change at the centre of Ghana’s emerging critical-minerals strategy.
Lithium has become strategically important to the global battery and electric-vehicle supply chain, and Huayou is a major participant in the new-energy materials industry. Control of Atlantic Lithium would therefore connect Ewoyaa more directly with an established international battery-materials group at a time when producers are competing for long-term access to raw materials.
The deal could also alter the financing and commercial structure around Ewoyaa.
The project has been developed under an earn-in agreement with Elevra Lithium, under which Elevra was funding development expenditure in return for a larger project interest and offtake rights. Atlantic Lithium has separately agreed that Elevra’s joint-venture rights and interests, including associated offtake rights, will be transferred to Huayou. That transfer is not conditional on completion of Huayou’s acquisition of Atlantic Lithium.
Under the existing project structure, Elevra was to fund an initial US$70 million of development expenditure and earn an additional 27.5% interest in Atlantic Lithium’s Ghana portfolio, taking its total interest to 50%, alongside rights to 50% of annual spodumene concentrate production after the required funding conditions were met.
The transfer of those rights means Huayou could potentially emerge not only as the owner of Atlantic Lithium but as a central financing and offtake participant in Ewoyaa’s development.
That makes the transaction strategically important for Ghana as policymakers seek to ensure that the country captures more value from critical minerals than simply exporting raw ore.
The key questions will include how quickly a new owner can move Ewoyaa towards construction and production, how project financing evolves and whether Ghana can secure deeper local participation, processing, employment and supplier linkages around the mine.
Atlantic Lithium itself has acknowledged that Ewoyaa requires substantial capital in a volatile lithium-price environment, one factor that shaped its board’s support for Huayou’s offer. Its latest annual report said the project’s scale, joint-venture structure and financing demands had influenced the board’s consideration of the takeover.
The Australian approval therefore represents progress rather than completion.
Huayou still has regulatory, shareholder and judicial hurdles to clear before ownership changes hands, and Atlantic Lithium has cautioned that there is no certainty the transaction will ultimately be implemented.
But with FIRB clearance secured and the shareholder timetable moving towards a November vote, the proposed takeover is entering a decisive phase.
For Ghana, the longer-term significance will be measured less by the US$210 million acquisition value than by what follows it: whether new ownership accelerates Ewoyaa into production, strengthens the financing required to build the mine and determines how much of the economic value generated by Ghana’s first lithium operation remains within the domestic economy.
