The China lithium question: a clash of the West’s corporate and strategic interests
- Chinese companies came to dominate mining and processing of increasingly important resources as Western firms ceded ground over the last decade or so, particularly in Africa
- Now, some governments are raising alarm about the shift
The deal went through swiftly – and almost immediately prompted calls for a national security review.
Just three months after Chinese-state-owned Zijin Mining Group announced its US$960 million plans to buy Canadian miner Neo Lithium, the proposal was signed, screened and delivered.
At a corporate level, the deal made sense. Neo Lithium’s biggest mine operation is in Argentina, where Zijin already has interests and plans to build a lithium carbonate plant. Canadian officials also said carmakers in North America were unlikely to use lithium produced so far away.
The backlash highlights growing concerns in the West over China’s control of supply chains for strategic minerals as well as a divide between national interests and corporate priorities.
That divide is particularly apparent in Africa, where the mining sector was previously dominated by European and American firms but has slowly given way to Chinese companies, including Huayou Cobalt, Chengtun Mining, and China Molybdenum.