But with demand for lithium set to boom from above 300,000 tons a year to a million tons by 2025, mining companies need to grow fast and they prefer to do so in jurisdictions they know well.
Joint venture with Jiangxi Special Electric Motor, a major Chinese maker of engines for electric vehicles, will allow Alliance to participate in the downstream lithium products market without having to incur the capital costs or risk associated with the construction of a conversion facility.
Ernst & Young’s Canadian Mining Eye index — which tracks the performance of 100 Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange mid-tier and junior mining companies — rose 5% fin the January-March period.