Lithium is obviously a key element for the creation of Lithium-Ion batteries used in everything from laptops to phones to electric cars. Cars in particular use a lot of lithium because they use a lot of batteries. This has made the element extremely valuable, up to $80,000 per ton at one point. And unfortunately, as recently as last year it appeared we were stuck with China controlling most of the world’s supply even though it doesn’t have most of the world’s reserves.
In the global battery supply chain, China is everywhere. Tianqi Lithium also owns stakes in SQM, Chile’s biggest mining company, and Greenbushes, Australia’s biggest lithium mine. Both Tianqi Lithium and its domestic rival Ganfeng Lithium have signed deals across South America’s “lithium triangle,” a mineral-rich part of the Andes at the junction of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. It’s a similar…
