Major carmakers like Volkswagen, Daimler and Stellantis have been racing to secure battery cell supplies in Europe.

EV Metals Group Plc’s spending will be on building plants to process minerals including lithium and nickel, and later expand into exploring.

Zijin shares jumped as much as 8.8% in Hong Kong on Monday, and are up 17% this year.

Lithium has gotten so hot that even China’s gold miners want a slice of the market, sky high valuations and all.

The Chinese company also cited higher costs for raw materials such as lithium carbonate for the price increase.

The plant will be in the town of Guben, a roughly 90-minute drive from where Tesla is building its gigafactory.