(Yicai Global) Nov. 9 -- Shares of China's Jinyuan EP hit the daily upper limit after the cement maker that is quickly expanding in the field of electric vehicle battery materials announced its second salt lake plan in western China in three months.

Jinyuan's stock price [SHE: 000546] soared by 10 percent to CNY11.4 (USD1.80) intraday. The shares are more than 50 percent up this year.

The shareholders of Tibet Ngari Liyuan Mining Development will sell a 51-percent stake in the firm for CNY510 million (USD80 million) to Jinyuan, the Hangzhou-based building materials company said in a statement yesterday.

Liyuan has the right to develop Baqiancuo Salt Lake in the remote Ngari prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The salt lake has about 160,000 tons of lithium chloride resources, as well as other minerals, according to the statement.

The parties have agreed that the buyer will re-evaluate the target firm's valuation after the transaction. When Liyuan's annual output of lithium carbonate or lithium phosphate exceeds 8,000 tons, Jiyuan will acquire the remaining 49-percent stake in it.

Jinyuan is accelerating its expansion in the new energy vehicle battery industry. Last September, it said it will invest about CNY600 million to buy a 51-percent stake in the mineral developer of Jibu Chaika Salt Lake in the same Ngari prefecture.

Last month, Jinyuan said it will also purchase a controlling stake in a lithium salt processing company to improve its lithium, potassium, and boron resource mix and to help accelerate its lithium salt production project.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi