EV & Grid Battery Materials

Rechargeable lithium-ion and grid-scale batteries depend on highly concentrated extraction and chemical refining chains for lithium, cobalt, natural flake graphite, battery-grade nickel, manganese, vanadium, phosphate rock, and lead. Several battery feedstocks exhibit top-three country concentration exceeding 75%.

FIG. 123 · Battery Materials

Lithium Global Production & Country Share

Measure: Mine production (metric tons)

#1 Australia

92,000 31.7% +132%

#2 China

62,000 21.4% +366%

#3 Chile

56,000 19.3% +161%

#4 Zimbabwe

28,000 9.7% +6615%

#5 Argentina

23,000 7.9% +290%

#6 Brazil

12,000 4.1% +745%

#7 Mali

9,400 3.2%

#8 Canada

5,600 1.9%

#9 Portugal

380 0.1% +9%

Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries (2022-2026) · Unit: metric tons #1 Producer: Australia (31.7% of world output)

Battery Materials Supply & Concentration Ledger

Specimen	2025 World Output	5Y Change	#1 Producer (Share)	Top-3 Share	R/P Horizon	US Import Reliance
Cobalt (Co) Mine production	310,000 metric tons	+118.3%	Democratic Republic of the Congo (74.2%)	90.9%	38.7 yrs	79%
Natural graphite (C) Mine production	1,800,000 metric tons	+86.3%	China (77.8%)	86.4%	172.2 yrs	100%
Lead (Pb) Mine production	4,500 thousand metric tons	+2.7%	China (42.2%)	59.3%	21.1 yrs	33%
Lithium (Li) Mine production	290,000 metric tons	+251.5%	Australia (31.7%)	72.4%	127.6 yrs	>50%
Manganese (Mn) Mine production	20,000 thousand metric tons	+5.8%	South Africa (38.0%)	73.0%	85 yrs	100%
Nickel (Ni) Mine production	3,900,000 metric tons	+55.4%	Indonesia (66.7%)	78.7%	35.9 yrs	41%
Phosphate rock (P) Mine production	250,000 thousand metric tons	+14.2%	China (44.0%)	66.4%	292 yrs	16%
Vanadium (V) Mine production	110,000 metric tons	+4.8%	China (74.5%)	98.5%	190.9 yrs	41%