The latest event is the news that lithium producer Albemarle Corp. eyed a significant stake purchase by an Australian HNWI to the tune of Australian $6.6 billion (US$4.3 billion) apparently aimed at a takeover target Liontown Resources Ltd.

The Australian lithium miner’s shares have been in the spotlight since Thursday trading above the A$3 per share offer price. Perth-based Liontown owns one of Australia’s most promising early-stage lithium projects, and has just recently concluded a supply agreements with major automakers including Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. (TSLA) and Ford Motor Co. (F) to go with it.

Another big news is that LithiumBank Resources (LBNKF) just announced it entered into an intellectual property license agreement with G2L Greenview Resources Inc. (G2L), a subsidiary of Go2Lithium Inc., whereby G2L shall grant a license in Alberta and Saskatchewan for continuous ion exchange technologies. The Direct Lithium Extraction technology will be used to extract lithium salts from enriched brines present at the Company’s lithium development projects.

Meanwhile, a recently discovered lithium deposit on the U.S.’s Nevada-Oregon border could be one of the largest in the world and could have a huge impact on the transition to electric vehicles. The deposit is located in the McDermit Crater, which is approximately 28 miles long and 22 miles wide. The crater is believed to contain around 20 to 40 million tonnes of lithium, a figure that dwarfs the lithium deposits in Chile and Australia. Global lithium production is expected to triple over the next decade, but demand for electric SUVs, sports cars and sedans is likely to outstrip supply. Each battery requires about 17 pounds (7.7 kilograms) of lithium, along with cobalt, nickel and other metals.

There will be 45 lithium mines operating around the world in 2022, with another 11 scheduled to open this year and another seven in 2024, but this is not enough. Even as more lithium feedstock is extracted from more mines, there could be a shortage of facilities used to refine the metal into battery-grade material.