The nickel miner has taken 49% in a joint venture that gives it 25% in the Greenbushes lithium mine and 49% in the Kwinana processing plant in Western Australia.

Since the Vale strike began, the premium on briquette has risen 24%.

Company said demand of nickel used in rechargeable batteries will increase to 228,000 tonnes in 2021 from 193,000 tonnes in 2020.

The website contains the world’s largest dataset of minerals such cobalt, lithium and rare earth elements.

The London-based company has just received £1.6 million in seed round funding.

Nauru wants to trigger the so-called "two-year rule", which allows for a mining plan to be approved after two years under whatever rules are in place at that time.

It would supply battery cells to Tesla, which is making Model 3 sedans and Model Y sport-utility vehicles in Shanghai.