Canada lithium startup eyes Japan firms to curb China dependence

TOKYO — A Canadian startup proposing a new method for refining lithium says it sees growing interest from Japanese companies hoping to lessen their dependence on China as source of the critical mineral for batteries in electric vehicles.

“We’ve been in contact with several Japanese companies in both the mining space as well as the conglomerates that are here,” including trading houses, Saad Dara, founder and CEO of Mangrove Lithium, told Nikkei Asia during a recent visit to Tokyo.