Pilbara Minerals, Qinghai Yanhu Industry, Chengxin Lithium, Dazhong Mining, and Sinomine Resources. Note that market sentiment will apply varying discounts to these still-forward projects.
From the lens of lithium-mining equities, Tianqi Lithium—owner of a pure-play, 100 kt LCE capacity—serves as the gatekeeper. After the next cycle of capital spending, the 100 kt-plus club will include Ganfeng Lithium, Zijin Mining (via Zangge Mining), SQM, Albemarle, Rio Tinto,
yet environmental groups remain formidable. Stringent green standards act like financial black holes: Rio Tinto, for example, has indefinitely shelved its 20-year flagship Jadar project.
During the lithium down-cycle, resource development in Europe and North America made little real headway. Washington’s “autonomous and secure” critical-minerals push and Brussels’ strategic-project label did steer financing and fast-track permits toward a handful of ventures,