But that only goes so far when confronted with challenges on the ground, which range from lack of transport infrastructure to corruption and capricious politics. At Manono in the DRC, an old tin mining area like Uis that could be Africa’s biggest untapped lithium deposit, Australia’s AVZ Minerals is locked in a legal battle with China’s state-backed Zijin Mining over the ownership structure of the concession. Its shares have been suspended since last May as a result.Marius Mihigo, a Congolese businessman who acts as a middleman for AVZ in Africa, says that Zijin was behind an “orchestrated misinformation campaign” against the Australian firm, after a proposal to pay him a $5mn success bonus if it secured an exploitation licence was leaked to the media.Speaking from a hotel in London, Mihigo says he only accepted $1mn as an upfront payment and the success fee was scrapped in the final contract. Zijin rejects his claims, calling them “biased and misleading”.
