Supercycle bulls will argue that this is just a temporary soft spot before green infrastructure stimulus starts building momentum in Europe and the United States.
China, the world's biggest importer of most major commodities, has already made several attempts to stall a surge in prices for everything from iron ore to coal.
The African nation's heavy reliance on diamonds, which account for a fifth of the Botswana's GDP and more than two thirds of its foreign exchange income.
To power up e-car batteries and for energy storage alone, the EU estimates it will need up to 18 times more lithium by 2030 and up to 60 times more by 2050.