Running discussion on SP, page-83148

Australia has grown increasingly reluctant to let Chinese firms extract its treasure trove of minerals critical to the transition to cleaner forms of power, so they’ve been investing elsewhere to secure supplies of metals used to make batteries — with lithium a key focus.


Chinese companies have spent billions of dollars developing lithium mines and processing plants in Zimbabwe, which currently accounts for more than two-thirds of Africa’s output, and are developing new operations in Nigeria, Mali and Namibia.