# The Global Lithium Playbook: Who's Really Sitting on the Battery Gold?

With EV and energy storage demand projected to surge 30%+ in 2025, everyone's asking the same question: which countries actually control the lithium supply chain? Let's cut through the noise.

**The Big 4 that matter:**

Chile's holding 9.3M metric tons — basically 31% of global reserves. Problem? Strict regulations and nationalization pushes are slowing them down. They were only the #2 producer in 2024 (44k MT), behind...

Australia, which produced 44k MT despite having fewer reserves (7M MT). That's because their spodumene deposits are easier to extract. The Greenbushes mine alone has been churning since 1985. But low prices killed some projects recently.

Argentina (4M MT) and China (3M MT) complete the top 4. Argentina's ramping up — Rio Tinto just committed $2.5B to hit 60k MT capacity by 2028. China's playing a different game: they're processing 70% of the world's battery materials, importing raw lithium, then flooding the market with cheap cells to starve out competitors.

**Plot twist:** China just claimed their reserves jumped from 6% to 16.5% of global supply after discovering a 2,800km lithium belt. If that holds, the entire supply narrative flips.

Bottom line? It's not just about who digs it up — it's about who controls the entire pipeline. China's winning that war, whether through processing dominance or now, allegedly, reserve discoveries.