Zijin Mining has acquired a 24.8% stake in Zangge Mining for RMB13.7 billion ($1.87 billion), following 2024’s trend of consolidation in the lithium market through merger and acquisition activity. Zangge is operating and developing direct lithium extraction (DLE) projects in China. Zijin, on the other hand, has a more international footprint with projects in Argentina […]
> Argentina has the potential to be one of the fastest-growing sources of new copper supply in the coming decade, according to the Benchmark Copper Service. Like in neighbouring Chile – the world’s largest producer by output – the Andes mountains host a rich copper mineralogy that offers the country a significant opportunity to develop new […]
> Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, specialising in battery supply chain research and insights, reports that 12.7GWh of new operational capacity entered operation in October 2025. Operational Capacity The grid-scale BESS market saw 12.7GWh of new capacity enter operations globally in October 2025, a y-o-y increase of 29%. China led new operational capacity with just under 8.8GWh of […]
> Cobalt prices jumped 10%–20% on the first trading day after China’s Golden Week holiday last week, amid deepening concerns over stock availability following the implementation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) new export quotas. Market participants reported to Benchmark last week that cobalt sulphate was trading at RMB 65,000–75,000/t ($9,170–10,580/t), up from RMB 60,000–62,000/t before the break. […]
> Australia’s Sayona Mining and US-based Piedmont Lithium intend to merge, forming a company with a market capitalisation of $623 million. The merged entity will be owned 50-50 by the shareholders of each company. The merged company could become the second largest lithium miner in North America in 2030, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Forecast, if the […]
> The broad LME/CME arbitrage continues to be a talking point, even months after it collapsed as result of cathodes being precluded from US copper tariffs. The reason the topic is still being broadly discussed is because, despite the arbitrage collapsing from its heights above $2500/t it is still relatively broad. This morning the arbitrage sat […]
> Lithium chemical prices spiked in China on Monday following a bullish speech by the chairman of Ganfeng – the world’s third-largest lithium producer – in which it was suggested that lithium demand growth could reach 30% in 2026. In a keynote speech on 16 November at the 10th International Summit on Power Battery Application in […]
> Escalating unrest in Mali, as jihadi groups target fuel convoys around the capital Bamako, has led several governments including France and the US to advise their citizens to leave the country. The attacks have created fuel shortages, and raised serious concerns around the military government’s ability to maintain its rule in the country. Mali is […]
> Eramet has bought out Tsingshan’s 49.9% stake in its lithium operations in Argentina in a deal worth around $699 million. The move gives the French miner complete control of its Centenario direct lithium extraction (DLE) project and removes any concerns associated with Chinese ownership. This is the latest deal in the lithium space in recent […]