I think you raise some good questions. From the ar

I think you raise some good questions. From the article I posted in post #10945:

Quote:

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Only four producers control about 85% of supply

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Chile’s SQM and U.S. companies FMC Corp and Albemarle Corp dominate the production landscape, extracting lithium from salt lakes in Chile and Argentina. Albemarle also operates a brine operation in Nevada.

The fourth producer is Australia’s Talison, which produces lithium at the Greenbushes mine in Western Australia. But it is hardly an independent, being 49%-owned by Albemarle and 51% by China’s Tianqi Lithium, which takes almost all of the mine’s output for processing in China.

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The article is about Tesla's need for lithium:

Quote:

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This oligopoly poses a real challenge for Tesla, will need about 27,000 tons of lithium carbonate a year to reach its sales target of 500,000 vehicles a year by the end of 2018. That equates to 16% of global consumption last year

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Tesla seems to be placing its faith in a new generation of producers, signing prospective off-take agreements with Bacanora Minerals, owner of the Sonora project in Mexico, and with Pure Energy Minerals, which is working on the Clayton Valley project in Nevada.

Interestingly, in announcing these deals, both miners said that material would be supplied at a predetermined level below current market pricing in alignment with Tesla’s goal to reduce the cost of its batteries.

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There is no shortage of other companies staking their claims to profit from the expected lithium rush.

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From where $TPAC will obtain its lithium and how it will pay for it remains to be seen, I guess.

Success is never final; failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts.--John Wooden (1910-2010)

Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.--John Wayne (1907-1979)