The National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, the government stockpiling body, may buy about 2,000 tons of cobalt.

Stellantis has agreed to invest 5 million euros in the battery metals miner in return for a near 20% stake.

Argentina's first plant for lithium batteries will begin operations in September, using metal extracted locally by US company Livent Corp.

The European Commission proposed in March that EU extraction of 16 "strategic raw materials", including lithium and copper.

Undersea mining is still illegal under international law and environmentalists rail against it for threatening ocean ecosystems with habitat damage, silt and noise.

Vulcan Energy is seeking support for the €1.5 billion project in the upper Rhine Valley that the firm hopes to bring online in 2025.