In the DRC, a Chinese-Australian battle for control of a massive untapped lithium lode
- The deposit could bring the sleepy mining town of Manono back to life – if only the parties could settle an ownership dispute
- Supplies of the resource are central to the electric vehicle industry – and to reducing carbon footprints
In the 20th century, the mining industry brought fortunes into the sleepy villages of Manono, a town in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Before independence in 1960, the Belgian settlers exploited cassiterite, the ore of tin, helping develop quarries, dams, roads, railways and foundries.
When the Belgians left, poor management, dilapidated equipment and the collapse of the world tin prices in the 1980s sent the town to its knees.
Those troubles worsened in the civil war that followed Laurent-Désiré Kabila’s ousting of Mobutu Sese Seko as president in 1997.
But the discovery of a gigantic deposit of lithium – the metal used to make rechargeable batteries in phones and electric cars – by Australian company AVZ Minerals has raised hopes for the sleepy town.
Perth-headquartered AVZ said in 2018 it had discovered about 400 million tonnes of lithium ore, making the Manono site potentially the world’s largest untapped lithium deposit.