Hyperdrive
Lithium Deal Shows China’s Accelerating Race for Battery Metals
- Buying spree comes amid a global push for clean energy sources
- Zijin tie-up shows ‘how hot the market is’ for lithium assets
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Lithium has gotten so hot that even China’s gold miners want a slice of the market, sky high valuations and all.
Zijin Mining Group Co., a major Chinese gold and copper producer, announced on Friday its first foray into the booming lithium sector with its C$960 million ($770 million) purchase of Neo Lithium Corp. It’s just the latest in a series of recent acquisitions, mostly involving Chinese bidders for South American assets owned by Canadian firms, amid surging demand for the key ingredient used to power electric vehicles.