The Chinese company said it would terminate the deal after Premier missed a deadline to start delivering spodumene concentrate.

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.

The commodities giant will sign an offtake agreement in exchange for helping to fund the lithium processing plant that Eramet is building with China’s Tsingshan.

The deals follow a similar agreement in January with giant Chinese battery maker CATL.

The asset hosted tin and tantalum mining for decades and is known to contain lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatite formations.

Auto workers union has warned that a rapid change to EVs could put thousands of jobs at risk.

The state-owned joint venture will "shortly" sign an agreement with Argentina to secure a few lithium blocks.