Lithium & Battery Materials
Lithium-ion batteries power electric vehicles, smartphones, and grid storage. The materials inside — lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese — must be mined and refined before a single battery can be built. As the world electrifies, demand for these materials is set to multiply several times over, creating structural shortages that only massive capital investment can solve.
The world's largest lithium producer. Mines and refines lithium from brine in Chile and hard rock in Australia. Sells directly to battery manufacturers including CATL, Panasonic, and LG Energy Solution. Its margins expand and contract dramatically with the lithium price cycle.
Chilean state-linked company with some of the lowest-cost lithium production in the world from the Atacama brine fields. Also produces fertiliser-related chemicals. When lithium prices rise, SQM's profits scale rapidly from its near-zero variable cost base.
Speciality lithium chemicals producer focused on high-purity lithium compounds for EV batteries. Merged with Allkem to form Arcadium Lithium — creating a vertically integrated lithium company from mining to refining.
Tesla's exclusive battery partner for its Nevada Gigafactory for over a decade. Supplies cylindrical cells and is scaling to next-generation 4680 format batteries. Panasonic's battery business is its fastest-growing and most strategically important division.
Operates Mountain Pass — the only active rare earth mine in the US. Rare earth magnets, particularly neodymium, are inside every EV motor and wind turbine. MP is building domestic US rare earth magnet production to reduce dependence on China.
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