China battery giant CATL wins lithium project in race for materials

Key Tesla battery supplier Contemporary Amperex Technology has won exploration rights to a lithium clay deposit in China, as surging demand for electric cars fuels a race to secure supplies of raw materials.

CATL, as the company is better known, bid 865-million yuan ($135-million) for the exploration rights to the deposit, which is estimated to contain about 2.66-million tons of associated lithium metal oxide, it said in a statement Thursday.

An index of global lithium prices compiled by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence surged 280% in 2021 and another 127% in the first quarter as supply is squeezed by booming demand for EVs.