The lithium battery is critical for electric cars. Chinese companies have been buying lithium mines around the world.
China’s Ganfeng Lithium announced on July 11 that it will buy 100 percent of Argentina’s Lithium shares for US$962 million. Lithea has two projects at lithium salt lake in Argentina, which can produce 30,000 to 50,000 tons of lithium carbonate. Ganfeng has another four lithium salt lake projects in Argentina, three lithium mines in Australia, two lithium stone projects (one in Mali and one in Ireland) and one lithium clay project in Mexico.
China owns 6 percent of the global lithium reserves and produces 13 percent of the global lithium output. Chinese companies manufacture half of the total lithium batteries.
Chinese companies intensified competition to control the lithium resources outside of China. Six companies, including four Chinese companies, bid for lithium resources in Bolivia. Ganfeng Lithium beat CATL to buy the Canadian company Millennial which has two lithium salt lake projects. BYD, a Chinese electric car company, signed an agreement to buy six lithium mines in Chile. Tianqi Lithium bought 24 percent of the shares of SQM, a lithium mine company in Chile.
Source: Epoch Times, July 17, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/7/17/n13782559.htm