"It's very hard to find a lithium developer or producer that...

"It's very hard to find a lithium developer or producer that hasn't signed some kind of an off-take with the Chinese converters, or even further upstream," he said.

"What's that meant, in some ways it's almost like an arm's race as we get into this electric vehicle market," he said.

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Fortescue chief executive Nev Power says the miner is looking for lithium in the vast Pilbara region of Western Australia. Photo: Matt Reed
"The European and the American auto companies have been caught slightly flat-footed by the Chinese, and they've really at the moment, effectively got one place to go to try and secure off-take, and that's us, at Kidman," he said.

In an interview with Fairfax Media, Mr Donohue said he was not surprised that Fortescue was looking for lithium.

Maybe tomorrow's visit by the German group in WA may create an announcement that shores up future funding.