Annie LeeMay 24, 2022 – 7.27am Hong Kong An auction for a controlling stake in a Chinese lithium mine has garnered 3448 bids. Such demand underscores the scramble to secure the battery metal that is key to the clean-energy transition.The 54.3 per cent stake in in Yajiang Snowway Mining Development, which owns the mine in the south-western province of Sichuan, was sold for about 2 billion yuan ($420 million), said JD.com’s judicial auction platform. That’s nearly 600 times higher than the starting price of about 3.35 million yuan.