'Major lithium find' boost for Chinese battery makers

Chinese scientists have reportedly found in excess of five million tons of lithium at a deposit in the country’s southwest Yunnan Province that could boost self-reliance for a key material needed by China’s battery makers.

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Geochemistry found 340,000 tons of lithium oxide in a test site in central Yunnan, according to the state Xinhua News Agency.