Given its global role in exploiting critical mineral resources, the scavenging activities of China seem unending. Recently, it was reported that Chinese nationals are burrowing in Nigeria’s mines, grabbing whatever deposits of Lithium they could find to sneak back to their country, to fuel their industries.
Provoked by this act, Miners under the umbrella of the Miners Association Of Nigeria, sent a passionate plea to the federal government to check the activities of Chinese miners scavenging for Lithium in the country, stating that their activities will threaten the economy down the line.
This was disclosed by Mr. Dele Ayanleke, the National Secretary of the association in an interview.
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See what he said;
“Chinese are moving from one mining site to the other, scavenging and mopping our raw Lithium mineral at a cheap rate to develop their industries and economy. This is not good for the future of our economy, what this means is that Nigeria will end up buying electric batteries from them.
“The government should safeguard our Lithium and revive all the moribund companies producing batteries in Nigeria to start using the Lithium to produce electric batteries. Allowing the Chinese to enter into every mining site is one of the reasons kidnapping is on the increase in Nigeria because they are the major target for kidnappers”.
Mr. Ayanleke also urged the federal government to withdraw 100% ownership of minerals mined by foreign miners operating in Nigeria, stating that allowing the Chinese to have 100% mining assets is not good enough for the indigenous mining investors.
Also, in June 2022, the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, NGSA, disclosed the discovery of high Lithium grade in Nigeria, which is one of the world’s most important solid minerals.
The agency further disclosed that the occurrences of Lithium are of high grade, which serves as a point of attraction to investors, as they eagerly want to pay huge sums of money for some of the datasets generated by the agency.
Nigeria seems not to be the only country that Chinese officials are scavenging for its Lithium mineral resource. Last month, it was reported that speculations were mounting that China will take advantage of the power vacuum created by the 2021 U.S withdrawal from Afghanistan, and seek dominance over the country’s mineral resources, particularly its Lithium deposits.
Western investors are reported to be unlikely to invest in Afghanistan’s Lithium sector, given sanctions risk. However, the leading candidate to step in is China, which has long pursued strategic dominance in the Lithium-dependent battery storage segment of the green energy revolution.
Last year, representatives of several Chinese companies reportedly conducted on-site inspections of potential Lithium projects in Afghanistan.
As of 2018, it was reported that Chinese entities now control nearly half of global Lithium production and 60 percent of electric battery production capacity.
Lithium is reportedly a hot cake mineral resource currently, and has witnessed a price rally over the last few years, due to rising electronic vehicle demand which needs Lithium to make its most expensive parts-the car batteries. The prices of Lithium have also soared in recent months due to the growing demand for clean energy.