Day to day discussions on S/P, page-12113

Thank you for posting this article.
Details are very scant, but Yunnan is the southernmost province of China on the border of Laos, I have traveled there in the past. It is one of the least economically affluent provinces.

Labor costs would be low - but specialist knowledge would have to be imported, at least initially.

They have confirmed around 8% of the top of my head, 340,000 tonnes and so expect this to represent a site of up to 5,000,000 tonnes - very speculative by any standards.

The type of deposit would also matter, hard Rock or brine, I would suggest it would be hard Rock in Yunnan with the geography. Confirming actual deposit levels vs expected will take time.

Timing is interesting, as spod prices begin to level out in a trade war in which China is using its rare earth's, of which it controls 70% of the world's extraction to influence outcomes and perhaps concerned about other essential future materials it has less control over being used against China itself. This may be a further ploy to drop prices for one last grab before Australia as a partner of the USA begin to restrict Chinese market access to lithium. Something to ponder over.

That a highly speculative domestic source has been announced now, I feel is prudent to be prepared for but is unlikely to be an eventuality and is instead a pawn on the trade war chessboard. I will factor this in when further externally verified drilling confirms real supply.