Lithium

A Bolivian court on Tuesday ordered the nation’s parliament to suspend its processing of contracts signed with Russian and Chinese companies for the construction of lithium processing plants in the nation, local outlets reported.

India’s Mines Secretary V.L. Kantha Rao said on Thursday that Indian mining companies are exploring possible investments in Zambia, Australia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Bolivia must pay $2 billion plus interest to Chinese and Russian companies building lithium processing plants in the country, the Bolivian newspaper El Deber reported on Wednesday, even though Bolivia already offered them preferential extraction rights.

Millions of tons of lithium, the raw material used to power the vast majority of electric vehicles (EVs), have been discovered beneath the ground in Arkansas in a government-led study, researchers announced Monday.

U.S. Under-Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose Fernandez on Monday accused China of over-producing lithium in a predatory scheme to push down market prices and drive competing suppliers out of business.

A lithium battery fire on California’s I-15 left drivers stranded for hours in the blazing heat on Saturday.

A major fire at a lithium battery plant in South Korea killed approximately 23 workers on Monday at a building owned by manufacturer Aricell.

The recent discovery of byproducts from a Pennsylvania fracking site could supply nearly half of the U.S.’s lithium needs.

Bolivian socialist President Luis Arce met with his “brother,” Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, in St. Petersburg on Thursday to address “a broad bilateral agenda” that includes Bolivia’s lithium resources and potential membership in the China-led BRICS bloc, currently chaired by Russia.

Argentine President Javier Milei arrived in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday for a visit that will see him receive an award from a prominent Jewish organization and meet privately with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Austin, Texas, on Friday.

A massive fire broke out at a French industrial site used for recycling hybrid and electric car batteries on Saturday.

Chinese lithium giants Ganfeng and Tianqi warned investors on Tuesday that their profits are plunging by up to 80 percent as the demand for electric vehicle (EV) batteries weakened, producing a glut of lithium that drove prices down.

Argentina’s President-elect Javier Milei and American National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan discussed the outsized role that his country may play in the global lithium industry if properly developed, multiple Argentine news outlets reported on Tuesday.

Mexican far-left President Andrés Manuel López Obrador held his first-ever meeting in person with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping on Thursday, reaffirming their nations’ “friendly relations” and agreeing to combat fentanyl trafficking.

Chinese dictator Xi Jinping will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco next week and is scheduled to be the guest of honor at a dinner attended by hundreds of U.S. executives and business leaders.

Chile’s far-left President Gabriel Boric met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, pledging to defend Beijing’s false claims on Taiwan.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum claimed during the Republican primary debate that China “controls 85 percent of the rare-earth minerals.”

President Joe Biden’s commitment to his green energy agenda, with Electric Vehicles (EVs) at the forefront, without first securing an American supply chain is likely to cede United States economic power to its biggest adversary, China.

Massive graveyards filled with electric vehicles were discovered across China, ostensibly caused by the collapse of ride-sharing companies.

Bolivia’s Foreign Minister Rogelio Mayta announced Monday that the nation’s socialist president, Luis Arce, will attend the upcoming BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, hoping to join the China-led trade bloc.

Chilean far-left President Gabriel Boric defended on Thursday the need to limit economic dependence on China during an encounter with representatives of French business.

Chinese electric carmaker BYD announced on Tuesday that it will invest $620 million to build a new electric vehicle industrial complex in Brazil, a dramatic expansion of its operations in Latin America.

Bolivia’s socialist President Luis Arce signed contracts with China and Russia to hand over control of its two largest lithium deposits.

The Taliban’s “acting” central bank governor, Mullah Hidayatullah Badri, met with Chinese Ambassador Wang Yu on Thursday in Kabul to discuss “the economy, banking relations, business, and some related topics.”

Movie director James Cameron says he feels he “walked into an ambush” this week during a visit to Argentina in which he believes there was an attempt to use his image as an environmentalist to give a positive spin to lithium mining operations despite Indigenous opposition.

China’s state-run Global Times on Monday filed a gloomy report on Chile’s plans to nationalize its lithium industry, which would freeze Beijing out of exploiting the vital “green energy” mineral. The editors vacillated between warning Chile that it courts disaster, and huffing that China doesn’t really need Chile’s lithium output.

Chilean far-left President Gabriel Boric announced plans to nationalize the country’s lithium industry in a national broadcast on Thursday evening.

Multiple ministers in the government of Australia expressed this week an interest in expanding exports of lithium to India, in response to concerns that America has become too lucrative a market for exports and may corner lithium supplies.

Mining authorities in India announced on Thursday that they had discovered potentially as much as 5.9 million tonnes of lithium deposits in northern Jammu and Kashmir, a potential gamechanger in the race to dominate the electric vehicle battery industry.

Taliban terrorists detained five men, three Afghans and two Chinese citizens, suspected of attempting to smuggle lithium across the Chinese border, the Afghan news outlet Khaama Press reported on Monday.

The Indian government is reportedly interested in buying a copper mine and up to two lithium mines in Argentina, in a bid to catch up with China as a top provider of minerals needed for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

A visiting Harvard professor revealed to podcast host Joe Rogan the “heart-wrenching” and “subhuman” origins of nearly every lithium battery-powered tech device that is produced from Chinese-controlled cobalt slave mines. 

The U.S. government is reportedly turning to Canadian mining operations in a bid to break China’s stranglehold on vital mineral resources, especially lithium, cobalt, and manganese.

A New York City apartment fire left 38 people injured, including two critically, and five seriously. The blaze was caused by a lithium-ion battery linked to a micro-mobility device, according to the New York Fire Department (FDNY).

A study found more children have been ingesting lithium batteries, also known as “button” batteries, which could have dire consequences.