As the world’s largest country by population and second-largest economy, China is embarking on a dedicated effort to become a leader in the emerging electric vehicle market. Hundreds of manufacturing firms in China seek to take advantage of the vast national investment directed at renewable energy and battery storage technology. This also motivates China to capitalise on metal resources necessary for launching the electric vehicle industry.
With the rise of the electric vehicle industry (among other technology related sectors), China seeks to capitalise on raw materials for battery manufacturing. Lithium and cobalt are two important metal resources for developing batteries. Lithium is extracted from a brine found below salt-flats while cobalt is extracted from copper and nickel deposits.
South America’s “lithium triangle” is estimated to hold 54 percent of the world’s lithium carbonate reserves. In 2016, Chile was the world’s largest exporter of lithium at 62% of global exports, amounting to $494 million worth of total exports. Japan, South Korea, and China were the three largest importers of Lithium at 22 percent, 18 percent and 18 percent of global imports respectively. South Korea, China, and Japan were also Chile’s largest buyers of lithium.
European Metals Holdings Ltd (LON:EMH) are an Australian and UK listed mineral exploration and development company advancing the Cinovec Lithium / Tin Project in Czech Republic. Cinovec hosts the largest lithium resource in Europe, and one of the largest undeveloped tin resources in the world.
